World Lore:

  FE stands for "Fallen Empire" referring to the Abercellian Empire's fall from grace after the disastrous invasion of the Sekigawa Shogunate and is only used on Maryura by it's inhabitants.

  After the slow decline of the Abercellian Empire, and certainly after the Methyr Theocracy had been established, they have begun the practice of summoning otherworlders to "save" the planet from crises, as for what the crises are? Well that's for the High Theocrat to decide...

  Magic Crystals possess a rich, deep purple hue reminiscent of amethyst, adorned with an orange iridescent vein and a delicate light silver streak. All firearms have components made from this ore.

  In order to load a magic rifle, one must take a small chunk of Magic Crystal, split it half, insert the chunk into the breech, and then take the other half into the muzzle, then much like a regular musket the user then needs to use a ramrod to push the other chunk down.

  The Black Mark is pictured as a shattered pedestal, which typically held an orb representing a Dungeon Core. 10,000 years ago the first ever Dungeon Core was shattered by a party of twelve, the Goddess of Dungeons upon hearing this was furious, so furious in fact that she descended from the heavens, an act that the deities hadn’t done since the Creation Era. The goddess smited the one responsible, and placed the remaining eleven with a permanent curse, the Black Mark on both of their shoulders. Those cursed with the Black Mark are ostracized everywhere one goes, and it is also see-through, meaning that no matter how many layers of clothing one puts on, the Black Mark is still visible and no amount of magical means can hide this curse. Since then the term ‘Shatter the Core’ has been used to describe any attempt, successful or not, at destroying the Dungeon Core, by any means.

  Grand Council Directive No.3729 ‘Dungeon Protection’ was passed by the Grand Council of Kurz which grants the military the authority to protect Dungeon Cores from being shattered by individuals suspected to be plotting to shatter the Core, or those with the Black Mark. However due to the current embargoes and sanctions, the military is unable to enforce this directive, and thus the Grand Council amended the directive to allow local law enforcement and the Adventurers Guild the ability to enforce this directive.

  Country Lore:

  Union of Kurz: formed as a Union between Humans, Wood Elves and Dwarves after wining the 5 year long Kurzian War of Independence against the Laziran Empire. The country is run like a direct democracy with members of the three species receiving equal representation in the Grand Council.

  The inhabitants of the Province of Kurz felt like they were neglected by the Laziran Empire, more specifically from their High Elf monarch who felt no need to develope the Province. This has resulted in rampant poverty, infrastructure decaying, and constantly being on the verge of famine, as such the people of the province banded together and declared independence against the empire.

  Every city has their own local councils this ensures that the voices of the people are heard from directly. Everyone can and are encouraged to participate in their local council meetings at the end of each week. During these meetings each Local Council debate and vote for Local Agendas, then representatives from the Local Councils are sent to Kurz to vote for a Collective Agenda based upon the vote from the Local Council they represent, once a Collective Agenda has been decided it must then go through a vote at the Grand Council. Currently there are 14 local councils who have 1 vote each. In addition to this each of the fourteen councils have jurisdiction on nearby towns and villages.

  Note Local Agendas are separate from Collective Agendas and must be voted by the Grand Council to be implemented.

  Then there is the separate Grand Council ruling directly from Kurz, members of this council are voted in through public elections and decide on national matters, such as laws, diplomacy, etc. And lastly the Grand Court, which acts to enforce and interpret laws, as well as strike down laws deemed unconstitutional by the court, each judge are elected for life.

  The number of councillors elected in the Grand Council is proportional to the population of each city with a Local Council, as in for every ten thousand there is one representative.

  Each branch of the government have measures in place to prevent each other from gaining too much power. The Grand Council can order for the removal of a judge through a vote, and as previously stated The Grand Court can declare Grand Council directives/laws unconstitutional. The Local Councils can vote against implementing Grand Council directives/laws and the Grand Council in turn can vote down Local Council Collective Agendas. While the people elect judges the Local Councils also have the power to remove judges and the Grand Court can in turn declare Local and Collective Agendas unconstitutional.

  A vote passes based on majority. During Local Council votes on Collective Agendas, each council MUST have at minimum 100 participants for a vote to count.

  Republic of Ergon: Is a representative democracy run by Orcs, and is founded upon a set of 12 principles.

  Representatives are elected from the 9 provinces of Ergon and meet at the Ergonese capital of Uzd. Each province has 3 representatives in the House of Representatives, which in total would have 27 provincial representatives. The Ergonese Senate has 2 Senators from the country's 25 cities totaling at 50 city Senators. Both seats are colloquially known as the Ergonese Parliament.

  The President is decided through two separates votes, the city and provincial votes.

  The President can choose their Vice President, if a candidate wins the city vote and the other the provincial vote, then the candidate who won the city vote is declared the president, and the other candidate who won the provincial is chosen as the vice president regardless of who the president chose.

  There are three branches: Parliament, Presidential, and the Supreme Court. There are checks and balances to prevent one branch from gaining power.

  Parliament must approve Presidential appointments either to the cabinet ministers or the Supreme Court, Parliament can impeach and remove the president from office, and lastly the Parliament can override presidential vetoes. In regards to the Supreme Court, Parliament can impeach judges and remove them, and Parliament can introduce amendments to the Ergonese Principles.

  The President has the power to veto Parliamental laws and appoint judges.

  The Supreme Court can declare certains acts of the President and Parliamental Laws unprincipled.

  Basically the Republic of Egron is just the USA but with differences in presidential elections.

  Lazir Empire: The Empire of Lazir or more commonly reffered to as the Laziran Empire is a elective triple monarchy between Orcs, Humans, High Elves. The empire has a small Arachne minority.

  Each section of the empire divided into three sections based on where majorities of each race live, the western section is administered by an Orc monarch, the central section is administered by a Human monarch, the eastern section is administered by a High Elf monarch. All three monarchs answer to the current ruling Emperor or Empress. The election of the monarch and the ruler is conducted independently and is decided by the people, with nobles counting for two votes.

  Republic of Lazogh: The Republic of Lazogh is a Dark Elf nation, with a sizeable Wood Elf minority. Currently the RoL is a Sister Republic to the Union of Kurz.

  Lazogh was once a part of the Laziran Empire like the UoK. Once UoK declared independence, the Dark Elves of Lazogh felt like they weren't represented fairly in the triple monarchy and followed Kurz's example and follwed suit. The revolutionary leaders of Lazogh knew that they didn't have the capacity to wage war and it's armies undersupplied so, the leaders of Lazogh, with approval from the people agreed to become a client state of the Union of Kurz.

  The government of the RoL is the same as the UoK except they have a Prime Minister whose the chief of the army, and the one to conduct diplomacy.

  Despite being a client state, the UoK leaves Lazogh alone, never meddling with the country's affairs. It is to the point where the RoL is it's own independent country rather a client state on paper.

  The Hoyashi Shogunate: Is a country ruled by 7 clans with the 8th being the Hoyashi Clan ruling as the Shogun from the capital of Hisomiya. The country itself is an island nation that's sandwiched between the Maryura continent to the left and the Varigny continent to the right. The island itself is named after the current ruling Shogun.

  The Modernist Hoyashi clan ousted the ruling Magic Tradionalist Taizho clan after a grueling 20 year long civil war between the Modernist clans and the Magic Traditionalist clans.

  The Kingdom of Earthia: Is a country ruled by Animalkins, located on the smaller continent of Tamnis just below Hoyashi Island also sandwiched between the two aforementioned continents.

  Ever since Earthia's declaration of independance 200 years ago from the Kingdom of Grire, they have been at war with their neighbor. Borders constantly shift to the point that map makers have given up on trying to keep up and have instead split the continent in half on maps, as of now the both kingdoms have agreed to a ceasefire, but it's unclear how long it will last. Currently Earthia is diplomatically isolated, save for trade relations with the UoK disregarding the combined Laziran and Ergonese embargoes.

  The Kingdom of Grire: Is a country ruled by Human supremacists who've for over 1,000 years the country have oppressed the Animalkin populations inhabiting the western portion of the continent.

  The Abercellian Empire: Before the empire was first founded 2,600 years ago. The nation was just one of many disparate city states that called the central plains of Maryura home, known simply as the City of Abercellia or more commonly referred to as the Abercellian Republic. Eventually over the centuries through wars, backroom deals, careful alliances among others has resulted in the once small city state to become a large regional power in the central plains as that would take three more centuries of conquest.

  During the centuries of conquest the fledgling Republic would come into contact with a much larger empire to the south known simply as the Wescarian Empire which relied on trade and mercenaries to keep their power, at first the two nations was relatively peaceful, with the occasional border skirmish flaring up, however this would soon change when a group of mercenaries residing in the City State of Cartana located right in between both nations. This group of mercenaries sought help from both Wescaria and Abercellia, and when Wescaria intervened, Abercellia responded by attacking which resulted in a twelve year long struggle over the City State, eventually Abercellia won, resulting in the "Treaty of Cartana" which allowed Abercellia to annex Cartana and forced Wescaria to withdraw from the region entirely, an uneasy truce formed between the two nations.

  The Republic was not satisfied with their gains, they wanted more, they wanted the total annexation of Wescaria and their coastal colonies on western and eastern Maryura, with senator speeches in the senate ending with "Wescaria must be destroyed!" after the treaty had expired, Wescaria severely weakened from the first war had held on for five years fighting fiercely for the land that they controlled, eventually with the nation fell after Abercellia captured their capital in what is now know as Lazir, the current capital of the Laziran Empire.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  A triumph was held in the city of Abercellia, where General Lycus Flavinius who had made a name for himself during the wars against Wescaria and with the support of the army and the people by his side, had seized control of the Republic and proclaimed the Abercellian Empire, he enacted sweeping reforms, such as replacing the citizen-armies of the Republic with Legions, turning the senate into nothing more than a figurehead however the senate could still participate in elections for the emperor. Lycus consolidated the Empire's central and southern territories, then turned his attention to the tribal nations that inhabited the north, or "Northern Barbarians" as the Empire labeled them as. To achieve this Lycus expanded the coastal colonies and created a navy using Wescarian ship designs, he formed three field groups those being Field Groups West, East and Center, with the center being personally led by him, these groups would strike the tribes from three separate directions: The West, Center and East.

  Once the preparations were made, a series of wars known as the "Barbarian Wars" would last for about four Centuries, initially the Imperial invasion was successful, easily conquering and assimilating tribes that inhabited the warmer regions, however six years the invasion was stalled when the many disparate tribes united under the leadership of Brennorix previously the chieftain of the Galenvar, now the chieftain of a united Keltvari Tribal Confederation. However this unification wasn't the only foil that stalled the Abercellians, as Keltvari druids weaponized the very land against the invaders forcing Abercellian soldiers to thread carefully on the very ground they step on and the further north the empire went the colder the climate. The first war culminated in the battle of Wintall Peak, when Keltvari forces forces led by Brennorix attacked the Imperial colony in which Lycus's army was stationed, at the height of the battle Emperor Lycus and Brennorix engaged each other in personal combat, both men fought for hours as neither had gained the upper hand and both men were forced to withdraw, the battle ended in a tactical victory for Abercellians and a strategic defeat for Keltvari, this battle had erased Field Group Center and the army led by Brennorix. A week after the battle both sides agreed to a truce where both sides would lick their wounds. In the end both leaders respected each other for their prowess and thus paved the way for the Keltvari's integration as separate ethnic group within the empire.

  Before the Battle of Wintall Peak, Field Group East was very successful their advance led them through eastern coastline, encountering very little resistance from the local Aethulia tribes, and said tribes eagerly joined the empire when the chieftains discovered the empire engaged in a struggle against their sworn enemies the Keltvari People's, their advance was abruptly halted in what is today known as the Methyr Theocracy, when the Field Group faced a large impassable mountain range which. Field Group West on the other hand, their advance was halted the moment they set foot into the northern tribes, as a separate group of Keltvari tribes fought more fiercely than their counterparts led by Brennorix, these tribes fought Field Group West to a standstill as they never set foot in the north.

  After the truce was signed, there would be sporadic border skirmishes and incursions but largely stayed peaceful, it wasn't until Emperor Lycus died when his successor voted in by the people, aristocracy and decided to restart the war against the Keltvari Tribes, and thus over the centuries a cycle would form one in which Abercellian Emperors and Keltvari Chieftains clashed with one another, the tribes slowly losing territory as they desperately fought for every inch of land they controlled until there was no more independent Keltvari tribe left to oppose Abercellian Empire's dominance over the Continent of Maryura.

  Three centuries after the end of the Barbarian Wars, the Empire prospered, new cities were built, scientific discoveries were made, but the Empire was hungry for more land to conquer, and three years before the end of the last era Imperial scout ships discovered the island that at the time was controlled by Sekigawa Shogunate, and the Current Emperor at the time, Petrus Elphidus, amassed an armada of one thousand warships led by admiral Charmides and ordered for the invasion of the island, now historians continue to debate this topic but there are multiple theories as to why the empire failed, some say because of logistics, the other say bad weather, lack of morale, or a combination of all, etc, there are those who even claimed that the Shogun at the time Yukihito Sekigawa had summoned a massive tidal wave that drowned the invading fleet. Whatever the case may be the invasion failed and Emperor Petrus was devastated when he heard the news of the failure and in his lament he was quoted saying "Oh Charmides, give me back my legions." This disastrous invasion, ended the empire's ambition for conquering more territory, and started the empire's slow decline, as over the next centuries rebellions became more and more frequent until the empire could no longer put them down. Over the next centuries more and more provinces declared independence from the Empire, starting with the province of Kaeltvaeria, until all that was left of the Empire their central Maryuran provinces, the Empire never recovered from the loss of their territories and would fall into an economic depression and stagnation which would last two centuries into the next era known as the era of the "Fallen Empire" as successive emperors would make attempts at revitalizing the empire to varying degrees of success.

  In 1290 FE, the Imperial senate, gathering support from the eastern provinces had proclaimed the Abercellian Republic, taking control of the capital which caused Emperor Gaius Flavius Mortellius to flee to the western provinces where he rallied the western provinces against the newly formed Abercellian Republic, thus the brutal Abercellian civil war between the East and West had begun and would last for ten more years. Currently in the year 1320, after twenty years of peace both sides decided to resume the civil war and this time neither side will back down and will fight until there is only one victor...

  Methyr Theocracy: The Methyr Theocracy, like many nations on Maryura were originally an Abercellian Province known as the province of Mythaeraeia Seceded from the Abercellian in 1172 FE, establishing the Kingdom of Mythaeraeia under the rule of King Gaetulia, for the first ten years of the young nation's existence was peaceful, save for occasional border skirmishes against Abercellia, this era of peace ended when in 1182, an Abercellian general Marcus Avenarius Octavius, launched an invasion into the kingdom to "reconquer and bring the province back into the fold" bringing the Imperial 13th Legion with him.

  This invasion had surprised many including the king himself who attempted to rally the country in it's defense, but it was too little too late, as the 13th Legion had arrived in the capital city of Dorminicum (now known as Ishnor), and king Gaetulia was forced surrender. General Marcus, became the new governor of Mythaeraeia who gave amnesty to anyone that resisted Abercellia during the invasion, and for a period of five years the province remained under Abercellian control.

  After Marcus restored Imperial rule on the province, a religious cult formed calling themselves the "Cult of the True Goddess", they sought to undermine Imperial rule and eventually drive out the Abercellian Empire out of the country. At first they were small, sticking only to the shadows, after about a year of it's founding they rapidly gained influence as preachers would openly hold the mass to any attendees, infiltrating government positions, and even influencing the province's nobility. Governor Marcus was alarmed when Imperial Agents alerted him. Marcus fearing not just the fundamentalist nature, but also at the growing influence of the cult, he made the decision to banned the cult from operating and ordered the arrest of every leader of the cult.

  This action proved to be a grave mistake, for as soon as soldiers of the 13th Legion arrested the leaders of the cult riots broke out in every city, especially in Dorminicum where a large angry mob pushed through a wall of soldiers and stormed the Governor's palace, but they were quickly repulsed by the palace guards who acted swiftly. But Marcus refused to release the leaders, two weeks after the cult's imprisonment, the riots intensified and in the dead of night a small group of rioters broke into the jailhouse containing the cult's leaders and set them free. Then at the break dawn Marcus awoke to large crowd of armed rioters gathered outside the palace, fearing for the worst, Marcus along with his personal guard fled Dorminicum utilizing a series of underground tunnels and escaped the outskirts of the city, and eventually escaping to the countryside regrouped with other officers of the 13th Legion. As soon as Marcus fled the palace, the rioters engaged with the 13th Legion garrison.

  Once the dust has settled, the cult emerged victorious, and a woman by the name of Victoria Laenas called herself the High Theocrat of Mythaeraeia, she imposed a new set of strict laws and banned the worship of all other religions and ensured that only the worship of the "True Goddess" is permitted, she instituted a policy of "De-Imperialization" every settlement with Abercellian names was changed, the Abercellian language was banned, the Abercellian influenced local culture, which had existed for centuries up to this point is in the process of being erased. Soon the Mythr Theocracy was established.

  Anyone who dared to speak or called themself Abercellian was punished severely. But the influence of the cult now the theocracy only extended to the cities as rural towns and villages stayed firmly loyal to the Empire, especially in agrarian communities where Imperial loyalists is firmly entrenched. Soon resistance to the theocracy formed, many loyalists flocked to join the ranks of the 13th Legion and Marcus vowed to reconquer Mytharaeia.

  Today in the year 1320FE, loyalist resistance against the Methyr Theocracy is still alive and has gotten stronger, the 13th Legion remained even after the onset of the Abercellian Civil War, aiding loyalist forces against Theocrat forces as both sides waged a deadly guerilla war on one another, and the theocracy have firmly entrenched themselves within the cities. What will the future of the Methyr Theocracy be? Only time can tell...

  Empire of Azrathal: The empire, sometimes referred to as the Demon Empire of Azrathal is located primarily in the northern Feretland, the continent east of Maryura has been since the dawn of time been home to a group of peoples, the land and the nation as a whole is comprised of Succubi, Incubi, Arachne, Lamia, among many others. This diversity is what sets the nation apart from others. It has been said that inhabitants of Azrathal were the first created by the gods to populate Feretland, however they mostly stuck to the north and remained there even to this day.

  Around 2,600 years ago, at the same time as the Abercellian Empire, then the Republic, was rising in prominence. A new ruler ascended the Azrathal throne, a succubus by the name of Sarnessa, she was crowned Empress. The new empress had grand ambitions for Azrathal that one day the nation would control all of Feretland. The empress began amassing a large army to conquer and eventually occupy Feretland. After five years of preparation she struck the Most Serene Republic of Sulstar which controlled the Drastar Peninsula just south-east of Azrathal and vassalizing Sulstar which is still an Azrathal vassal to this day.

  Sarnessa spent five years consolidating Azrathalian rule over Sulstar. A decision that would later prove to be wise. Then once the consolidation was complete, with the Drastar Peninsula secured Sarnessa eyed the rest of the southern nations, and began a series of short conquests capitulating one nation after another. After two years of conquest Azrathal found itself to be the sole ruler of Feretland and Sarnessa returned to Ragezran, the capital of Azrathal, to a cheering crowd. Alas this triumph was fleeting for unlike Sulstar which Sarnessa consolidated her rule over, she did not spend any time whatsoever consolidating Azrathalian rule over each nation she conquered, a decision that would cost her and her empire dearly.

  For two years after the conquests, rebels would organize in the shadows, uprisings frequently occur by disgruntled peasants, and agitators would espouse ideas of independence, as time wore on the Azrathalian army would find itself more and more outstretched. It was clear that Sarnessa bit off more than she could chew, until one day the nation of Yrnholm would be the first to declare independence against Azrathal, thus kickstarting the Feretland Wars of Independence.

  Soon more regions revolted and the Azrathalian Army could no longer contain the rebellions, it was then that Sarnessa realized her mistake, and ordered all of her armies to retreat back to their ancestral homeland and fortify the border establishing 'Fortress Azrathal' a series of fortifications along the border. Azrathal's short lived two year reign over the continent has officially ended, however the Feretland Wars of Independence was not over as it continued for the next ten years as both sides engaged each other in cross border examination.

  The Rebels launched an expedition into Sulstar the only nation that didn't rebel from Azrathal, hoping to breakthrough 'Fortress Azrathal' through Sulstar. This proved to be a huge disaster as the shores of Sulstar were heavily fortified and had infact been included into 'Fortress Azrathal' as rebel soldiers were immediately picked off the moment they leave the safety of their landing craft, it was estimated that twenty thousand rebels had died of the invasion force which numbered at around one hundred and eighty thousand. The losses may seem small at first glance, however those that perished were some of the rebels elite soldiers and their loss forced the rebels to retreat and the fighting would cease for the time being. After three months of peace, a delegation arrived in Ragezran from the rebel nations wishing to make peace after ten years of brutal war a peace treaty was signed between Sarnessa and the Rebel nations thus ending the Feretland Wars of Independence.

  Today in 1320FE Sarnessa still rules Azrathal as it's Empress, she made no more attempts at expansion after what occurred 2,600 years ago, instead she has sought to build alliances and maintain peace in the north. After the rise of the Methyr Theocracy, Sarnessa would find herself once again embroiled in conflict this time against a nation far away on another continent. Occasionally the Azrathalian navy would clash against the Methyrian navy attempting to raid Azrathalian trade routes.