The Nations of Darteia

There are seven nation-states that have survived the various travails of existing on Darteia. Although the territory that each country maintains is vast, the populations within those territories is smaller than one might imagine. Darteia is not a world with huge cities crossing the wilderness - pinpricks of light illuminate the darkness, both above and below the surface. In Llewin Moth, each nation has contributed something to ensure the survival of the grand experiment, and adventurers in that town may come from any of the nations, or from none, emerging from the Liminal Fields themselves.

A Brief Summary of the Nations of Darteia:

The Louthian Empire - Within its borders, the Louthian peoples refer to themselves as the Louthian Alliance, referring to the ancient combination of Dwarven and Human political structures that persists to this day - other nations have referred, in a somewhat derogatory manner, to their dreams of imperialist expansion and the nature of what the Louthians call their Bulwarks - militarized colonies, roaming ever deeper into the world, defending the freedoms of other nations, often against their will, and the creeping borders that they insist on maintaining even as their agents push against other nations.  To be fair to the average citizen, they do enjoy freedoms and qualities of life that encourage careful thought and a radically democratized political system. The Twin Emperors, appointed positions that take charge of Military and Legalistic affairs of state, answer to an elected parliament that manages appointments to high-level positions via a lottery system to determine which parliamentarian council will decide each position. . . some have claimed that the Dwarven proclivity towards gambling in their culture has made it so that Louthia is a nation ruled by dice, more than people. 

Granlandia - The ancestral home of humanity and their progenitors, the Elven Coterie, Granlandia is the land of a thousand faiths. Tribes dominate the political structure, and in-fighting and simmering warfare is the perpetual state of affairs. Conflicts from centuries past can resurface at inopportune times, and it has been noted that the Weaver’s Curse seems to strike with particular enmity. The Weaver’s Curse is the term for the folk belief that anybody capable of uniting the Granlandian tribes will suffer, and die, at a remarkably early timeframe. Despite these political strifes, Granlandia is a powerful nation, possessing huge stretches of resource rich lands, and a deep and abiding collection of magical power tapping into the natural world. The ancient alliances between dozens of Archfey and Elven rulers have ensured that a long and abiding cultural history persists in the face of other nation’s rises and falls.

Flokenthia - When the inhabitants of Darteia think of Flokenthia, the optimistic picture the rolling hills and seaside villages of the Smallfolk, while the pessimistic concern themselves with the baseless rumors of spies infiltrating the rest of the continent. Somewhere between the two lies the truth, of course - Flokenthia has existed for centuries between two large and aggressive nations, and despite that, has managed to thrive and carve out a stable nation for themselves. Much of this is reliant on their trade network - Flokenthians stand apart from so many longstanding conflicts within each of the larger nations that for centuries, it was believed only they could be trusted to manage The Great Highway that encircles the continent and provides the safest and fastest above-ground route between the nations. In addition, they do have a tremendously gifted and advanced intelligence service that seemingly has eyes and ears everywhere, and the careful manipulation of the intel they receive. . . well, it can guarantee stability when necessary.

Yeowenia - There is the surface of Darteia, and then there is The Quiet World - a huge underground civilization of drow, duergar, and other beings that reside far from the sun’s light. The Quiet World has its own conflicts and politics - drow resent dwarven strongholds jutting into their territory, strange watery creatures insist on their territories remaining sacrosanct, and the contradictory goals of various elementals that rule over the Abyssal Depths mean that exploration of the Quiet World is tricky at best. But even with their own concerns deep under the mantle of Darteia, the surface world and its treasures cannot be ignored. As such, the ancient rulers of the Drow empire have long worked to create ties to the surface, which have finally come to fruition.

The Malingian Theocracy - Many pantheons and folk-beliefs exist across Darteia. The largest of these is that of the Malingians, a group that originated as a collection of exiles and cast-offs from the Louthian Empire, Flokenthia, and Granland. Following an ancient Prophet of a being they referred to as Passimthesis, many of these cast-offs gathered near the rocky coastline of a city and founded a church and community. Several millenia later, this church has grown in power and exists with a tremendous nationstate on the Northwest portion of Darteia. The Divinity, as they generally refer to their deity, has claims that are hard to debate - that they are a God of tremendous power and capacity, and that they will provide healing and succor to those who come to their church. The Malingians possess a presence in almost every other nation-state, to differing degrees, leading some to feel concern at their strange hierarchy, which takes orders exclusively from their Papist-style leader. 

The Free Cities of Meranarit - Peoples such as Goblins, Orcs, Gnolls, exist everywhere on the surface of Darteia. There have often been conflicts between these people and the more traditionally “human,” looking amongst them. For the past several centuries, a great alliance has formed, for mutual benefit and protection, culminating in a declaration that the territories to the South and West of the Bucham Brotherhood were Free Cities - cities protected by the vast and powerful Aegis Authority. This Authority grants any village or city state protection under their contract, and with the massive power of the Orcs and the tactical leadership of the Hobgoblins, they have been able to provide it. Despite the struggles of this organization to be taken seriously, the Free Cities have grown in standing and power to represent the interests of many non-human peoples.

The Bucham Brotherhood - Several centuries ago, an ancient alliance between the Dragonborn and those interested in Arcane Studies was shattered by wars and maruading monsters. Only in the past century have the towers of powerful magi been raised again, and full study into arcane power restored to a place of significance. Following an ancient hierarchy, those mages gifted enough to claim one of the positions in this Bucham Brotherhood gain access unparalleled to texts and studies that grant tremendous control over the magical power that permeates the world and other realms. Many have gathered underneath these towers to gain access to the Magi’s knowledge and perhaps receive benefits from them, or merely receive the protection of the few but powerful mages in Darteia.