The Daravinic Empire [Main Lore]

[Tyranny]

An Empire of Rust

Introduction
While once devastated by the Bleeding's dangerous overflow, Daravin has shown that even through a long night of instability and despair, ancient dreams can prosper -- ones of magic, of control, of greed and vanity. As the heir to the Unbroken Empire, one might assume that the new Empire standing in its wake would seek a dissociation with its apocalyptic predecessor, but the often spiteful Lords of this reawoken realm do anything but. They take stride in the demeaning moniker of the 'Empire of Rust', a thing all other nations call them, and have openly declared war on the majority of their neighbors.

Daravin is a land of conspiracy. A place where subtlety thrives and modest portrayals of weakness will be met with a blade to the heart. It is intoxicating, exhilerating and all too punishing... but to the victor, the spoils are many.

Overview
The land that Daravin is situated upon has held many names. It was once the western province of Silor, the Kingdom of the Ald’norai who now lie fractured between three Elven races. Humans were brought into the Kingdom as slaves by the millions, until eventually they outnumbered their grim Elven Lords. By the end of the Second Age, after nearly a thousand years of subjugation, the people of Western Silor joined the rebellions sparked in Adena and alongside Valen Dres, they dealt the finishing blow to the Elven leadership: they captured its capital, Arlain, and culled the old order.

When any proud Daravain imagines their times of glory, it is this that they think of: the period in which they acquired their freedom, where they escaped subjugation and toppled what was surely the greatest nation of that time. The conquerors pushed the Elves back to Sil-Elaine, relegating it to that of a province, and took everything once theirs. Western Silor was made a province within the Unbroken Empire, named Ectahl-Prior.

And for a long time came what was essentially an intermission.

For the six centuries that made up the Age of Man, Ectahl-Prior served as little more than an agricultural realm to feed the hundred million that lived in Mithira and Sil-Elaine; the business elite. And it was exploited by that very same business elite, which often governed the realm from an unspoken platform of high taxation and little investment into its growth. In some ways, when the Bleeding came it was a blessing for the western realm, allowing it self-determination that has since led to it becoming one of the greatest nations in the world.

Daravin, after the Bleeding, was unsurprisingly hit hard. Being near the epicenter, the coastline largely resembled what Sil-Elaine appears like today, and more than half of the region's population died within the first few days of the blast. A league of Imperial intellectuals and magi were enough to prevent its total downfall, though only by constructing large corruption-soaking towers along the coasts, preventing the rot of the Outlands from seeping deeper into the earth, and expunging that rot where it grew.

This provided Daravin a window to recover - and quickly, it did. The land, which had been fractured politically by the Bleeding, was unified into an Empire near the middle of the Age of Ashes, year 4113. Three years prior to that, the Conventions of Carine took place, and the Omen - now Atharen's second largest religion - was founded, these two monumental forces converging to create an Empire with a powerful hierarchical structure, divided by church and crown.

The Entente were crafted shortly afterwards. By the end of the second century of the Age of Ashes, in the year 4156, Daravin was declared a magocracy. Mages were declared by the faith to be closer to God, with more power in the arcane signaling a greater divine outreach by Ulen, the Returning King. This declaration fundamentally altered the culture of the Empire and changed its course of history, leading it down a path where power above all things became idolized and revered.

Much of Daravin's history can be summarized by foreign war, the 'cleaning' of borders and the dismantling of Houses vulnerable to scandal and folly. The history of today is not dissimilar, though in the last three decades the Empire has seen a historic fall in centralization that has allowed the Entente to act in a fashion similar to independent rulers. The contemporary history of Daravin is one of endless internal strife, internal and external wars, class conflict and racial tension. If there was one standout event to usher in this period of enhanced disorder, it was the coronation of the current Emperor, Justane, upon the loss of his family. Since then, the Empire has been balancing on the edge of total social unrest, with its future speculated upon by even its most dogged supporters.

[Tyranny]

Halamire-Knight

The Core

Technology
While Daravin may wield some of the world's greatest magi, it does not carry the same technological advantages of its neighbor, Lorien, or even the old Empire it claims to emulate. Of the Unbroken Empire's old innovations, Daravin only operates a single broken rail line towards Adena that has long been surrendered to nature, with many ruins of old and impressive buildings founded on sophisticated technology scattered throughout the countryside. It is for this reason that Daravin is referred to as the 'Empire of Rust', a place of glory long lost to the ages.

Society
Daravin is often regarded as one of the most unequal nations on Atharen, with a disturbingly gilded upper class and millions of peasants and slaves living in utterly abject conditions. Cities such as Amoren are known for their brilliant palaces, with the Empire’s bourgeois subduing the lower classes with a distant sort of radiance, images akin to heaven on earth despite the toxic wasteland in which they all live. To create such divine wealth in the hands of the Entente, others are overworked and deprived, and a mere step from one of the opulent city centers will expose an onlooker to ghettos and urban decay.

In general, mages are the Empire’s privileged class. While the majority of wealth flows into the coffers of the Entente, the Valran - the merit-based mage strata - carry considerable influence and tend to live comfortably. These two upper classes are generally literate and trained in military and domestic affairs, while the strigoi (or everyone else) tend to lack in clothing, medicine and food. Despite this, revolutionary sentiment is virtually nonexistent, as many peasants believe that were they brave enough to survive an initiation, they too could live in luxuriance.

Whether or not this is true, the narrative of Daravin’s society is that it is defined by risk and reward, and that the immensely unequal distribution of wealth could not possibly be divided otherwise lest it stamp out ingenuity and weaken the classes that uphold the nation amidst its many wars. Jingoism is so dominant in the cultural conscious of the Empire that any questioning on the structure of society will often incite rage even from the lowliest of denizens. To many, the glory of the Empire is worth more than their own sustenance, and indeed even their life.

[Tyranny]

An Entente's Garbs

The Roots

Culture
If there is one word that can capably describe the overall cultural theme of Daravin, it is elegance. The maintenance of a regal, austere manner in public spaces, displaying an overt level of control over the perceptions to which you are ascribed.

There is a persistent and definitive cultural myth within the Empire that perception paints reality; that the world is a sort of surreal art and that each action taken within it are something akin to improvisations within a much grander game. Fate and destiny are concepts mocked and derided, as well as luck. Perhaps to protect the supremacy of the Nobility and those lucky enough to survive the initiation, ‘luck’ is cast off as a potentiality. Those who are where they are arrived at such heights as a result of what is believed to be inherent resilience, sometimes also equated with a nationalism for the Empire.

With such an emphasis on strength and self-accountability, repression and self control are major aspects to Daravain culture. Modesty is extremely important in public spaces, often to the point of ridicule by other cultures. Even shaking another’s hand in public can stir whispers in other’s lips of the deviance that must be clouding one’s mind, to reach out to touch another in such an inviting way. The consumption of alcohol is kept to extremely private indoor spaces, with Daravinic taverns operating more like gentleman’s clubs than anything else. Endless stories of mercenaries going mad and wreaking urban havoc as a result of the Empire’s oppressive cultural norms are abound, though the people of the realm are quick to scoff at such savagery.

These norms are much more prevalent in urban communities, which tend to ironically be more conservative. Perhaps as a result of this however, there tend to be unseen bubbles within the majority of Daravin’s population centers dedicated to fulfilling on the needs of the repressed populace. It is not uncommon for Entente and commoners to entangle passionately in a dimly lit drug den, adorning masks throughout the whole of the encounter. There are many places for debauchery such as this, and needs that go much darker. Philosophers have spoken of the internalized rage of the Daravinic people, forced to cull their outward emotions in favor of station and prestige. What these emotions tend to manifest in once released is often horrific; there are entire industries built on brutalizing slaves, and disease-ridden gladiatorial slums in the depths of the underground.

Though this defines the majority of urban Daravain, the lowest and most rural classes tend to follow a more traditional family-oriented lifestyle. Poorly educated and vastly illiterate, the lack of Entente cultural influence on these individuals shows in their lack of modesty or restraint. While these people are often humiliated in the cities, it is common for prestigious mages to spend time in farmland throughout the year if only to unwind into a more primitive state.

In terms of fashion, Unbroken fashions remain highly influential over Daravin, with their sense of style often considered ‘industrial’ and highly unusual. Clothing tends to be thick and perfectly pressed and maintained, often with more earthly colors such as beige, brown, green and often more sandy and arid colors.

People are often shocked at how uniform Daravain tend to look in cities, especially considering their immaculate headdresses that conceal many of their features.They tend to appear much as a horde of barely distinctive mobs of ash dresses and dirt-colored coats, obsessed with conformity. One will always recognize an Entente as they pass, however, if not by their many Valran guards then instead by the sheer opulence of their jewelry and attire, and the severe manner in which they regard their every move.

Marriage
As appears to be a common trend in Mornoth, marriage in Daravin is largely based on convenience, transaction and mutual benefit. This applies even moreso to the Entente, who - as people popularly mention - sometimes never even meet their spouse for months or even years after the union. Affairs are the rule rather than the exception, and as even pregnancy is a weakness to exploit among the aristocracy, many Entente partake in Necromancy to entangle their genes and produce their children most unnaturally.

For these reasons and more, there is little import to the sexual dynamics of a marriage, and both same-gender spouses as well as married consorts are fairly common. Sexuality in Daravin is famously modest in public spaces, but in private it is often as grungy and hedonistic as one could possibly imagine. In a way, every Noble has leverage on all others, as they’ve likely entwined at some point in an orgy at the culmination of a ball. This dynamic of public perception versus actual reality also bleeds into the lower classes of Daravinic society, who tend to live wildly private if utterly depraved lives.

Polygamy, while not incredibly common, is allowed in Daravin. Most famous for their polygamous unions are the Valran, though the Entente perform such unions as well.

Magic
Magic in Daravin is absolutely fundamental; as a magocracy, mages act as the ruling class and those who wish to increase their station often find magic to be the only way. In turn, around fifteen percent of Daravin's population are mages, a number much higher than other nations. Those who become mages are automatically spared from slavery, and are given greater lenience in the courts, superior access to public utilities and often numerous offers of apprenticeship and employment. The life of a mage is seen as inherently more valuable - they are the true Daravain people, in the eyes of the Entente, while others exist as laborers and tools to be utilized within the Empire's famously brutal rivalries.

Being in Mornoth near the epicenter of the Bleeding, Daravin has a high infant and early developmental mortality rate, particularly impacted by the Empire's frequent and supernaturally toxic dust storms. In response, many parents attempt to have their children initiated as they lie in the final stages of their life. Those surviving the initiation are often given extensive treatment by the Entente, before being conscripted into one of Daravin's many academies across the Empire. This not only offers Daravin's many sickly young a chance at life itself, but a chance at a better one - and one where they may increase their family's station. As such, it is common for children throughout the Empire to be introduced to magic at absurdly young ages.

While this has done well for their military and as an option for the lower classes to rise to more livable standards, this practice has already paid a bloody price. Millions of children die during mage initations in every generation, with nearly twenty percent of any given generation of Daravain dying to initiation at some point. It is seen as a sort of trial - a rite to be claimed, only by the worthy. Some say it thickens the blood of the Daravain people; makes them better mages. This claim is so far without evidence, but it is strongly believed by Entente circles, who largely believe themselves to be innately talented with the arcane.

One of the most prominent and necessary uses of magic in Daravin, considered to be foundational to its transformation into a magocracy, is Artifice in order to create Raw Ether-soaking structures that typically look something like large towers. These are typically built along the rivers of Daravin, with many massive industrial-like Artificed structures peering over the riverbeds of the nation. The towers soak corrupt magical energies and keep both water and soil pure, particularly those closest to the Bleeding's impact. When these overload, they are either purified with Fragments or by an artifact of the Emperor, known as the Sunstone. In cases where these structures truly overload, mayhem often ensues and thousands quickly die, with water filling with rot and raw aether poisoning the air.

Certainly, as magic is a part of daily life in Daravin, there are more things to mention here. There are hundreds of micro-factions, composed of different kinds of mages... in general the predilections of the elite in expanding upon and learning of their magics is near endless. This has many adverse effects on the peasants of Daravinic society, who are often caught between the boundless proxy wars of magical groups or within the gaze of a particularly experimental mage. Truly, magic meets its full grim boundaries in the Empire, and as the core of their civilization few question that reality.

[Tyranny]

Emperant Justane Blancéford

The Structure

Governance
Though technically Daravin is ruled by the Emperant (male) or Emprise (female), it is the Entente that hold the Empire's true power. They are a select number of highly autonomous noble Houses, ruled by incredibly powerful mages. They are always at war with one another in some way - sometimes it is overt, but often they rely on court intrigue and games of truth and deception.

Each of the Houses of the Entente hold a vast amount of power, effectively acting as Kings in their own right, and all of them claim to be rather ancient in origin. They were, supposedly, noble families of the Unbroken Empire before the Bleeding, many of them provincial governors ruling over conquered land. While some of these cases are undeniably true, much of Daravin's history from that time has been lost and so it is fairly easy for a House to fabricate any claims or 'evidence' that they desire.

The Entente are capable of introducing or invalidating any law within their domain, or imposing them selectively, or ignoring them. They can conscript vast numbers within their domain for their military, and many often ignore the Emperant's call for bannermen if they feel threatened by their surrounding Houses. It is not uncommon for members of the Entente to do as they will upon the public; murder, sacrifice, research, molestation and even enslavement. Given that Daravin's mages tend to be fiercely loyal to the House they serve, and each House often carries vast magical power on its own, there is no true recourse or chance of rebellion even during the reign of deeply vindictive nobles. They are never held accountable to a higher power, never reined in - though sometimes they do manage to topple one another, and the wheel continues to turn.

This is not to say that the Emperant is completely powerless. The ruling royal dynasty does have considerable influence, particularly in the Empire's north. There have also been Emperants in the past who effectively commanded the Entente to their will, reducing regional autonomy and centralizing power. As things are now, though, the Emperant has again been reduced to little more than a mouthpiece for his vassals and a symbolic orator for the Omen.

There are ranks within the Nobility, and each House of the Entente has their station and influence effectively determined by these ranks.

To begin with, there is no title to replace that of Baron, or Mayor, or any such lesser position of influence. Instead, Nobles occupying any title below Montese (Count) are called Veir, and are addressed as such. These Nobles can perform virtually any role beneath their local Montese - they can run estates, or whole towns, castles, tracts of land. They can act as courtiers, advisers or strategists for the military, and any number of other diplomatic or administrative tasks. Veiren are most often the children or relatives of a ruling member of the Entente, but they can also be those of shamed or depleted Entente families who have lost their greater titles through political failings or misfortune. Many of them may have never held power, but were escalated to minor Nobility by a greater Lord. Even within this group there is constant political scheming ongoing, as well as assassinations and plots.

Above the Veir are the Montese, acting as rulers to smaller regions within Daravin's boundaries. Unlike most Noble systems where 'Counts' - or in this case Montese - may be vassals to more powerful Lords, Montese answer to no one and no one presides over their land. They are simply the leaders of smaller areas than their higher-ranking counterparts, but do not hold the obligations of a vassal. As borders frequently change within the Empire's boundaries, some Montese have even ascended in their position by conquest of other rival Houses alone.

The Treveyn rule one of the Trenorant of Daravin, large and bountiful regions often headed by great cities. They are often referred to as Kings for their might, and they are almost constantly in feuds with one another - bloody ones, at that. With little centralized power, the Treveyn are free to do as they wish, and this has led to an arduous and gruesome history for many of their surrounding Houses.

It should be noted that there is no age or gender based system of inheritance for Daravin's Entente. Instead, Nobles are often initiated at a very young age and their inheritance is determined almost solely by their arcane ability. This means the heir can change; it is not a set role given to any one child, and as a result competition between a Noble's children is frequent and fierce.

Intrigue
Core to the politics of Daravin is its intrigue. It is formally known as the Candor, where - through deception and the exploitation of weakness - all secrets are eventually revealed, and levied against aristocrats until their vulnerabilities have either destroyed them or have been used for leverage. All members of the Entente take part of this grand deception, with weakness winnowed out of them as young as infancy to ensure they are callous enough to partake. One weak member of a House can often be enough to destroy a dynasty, as they can be exploited to uncover a family’s vices and loose ends. This is part of why Daravinic Nobles initiate all of their children — it is perceived as a practice to root out weakness within the family, before it ever becomes their downfall.

As Daravin is a magocracy, control over information is not the only source of power within court. Magical ability is highly important for improving one’s prestige and therefore their station, as vacant positions will often be offered to the most prominent of magisters. It is also important for self-defense, as powerful magi-assassins are not a tool uncommonly employed. For these reasons, the Entente of Daravin often employ a variety of different measures to ensure they are poised to surpass others in magical talent. Most of Daravin’s aristocrats have been breeding with Sil'norai for decades to increase their arcane stamina, though of late this has led many to believe that the Sil'norai are conspiring to reclaim their old Empire through seduction.

Despite these conspiratorial beliefs, most magisters in the current Age are at least a quarter Sil'norai, many half or more. It is equally commonplace for the most upstart of Entente to conspire with Corrupted Adac for power, ‘Demon Gods’ as they are called in Daravin, making sacrifices of blood, influence or secrets to these darkly entities in order to gain untold advantages over their opposition. Though these acts can be used to quickly assure longevity or supremacy, they are but another secret, one to be leveraged against a House just like any other.

Uniquely vicious in Daravin are sibling rivalries. Siblings are often barely a step beneath House rivals in competitiveness, scheming and animosity, especially due to Daravin’s merit-based system of inheritance. Few relatives can be trusted to hold really anything in confidence, and siblings can be trusted only to reveal all information in foul.

Religion
Like Lorien, the faith of Daravin is 'the Omen', the belief in He Who Is Returning - a messianic religion focused on preparing the way for a heroic God who will unite the world and dispel all evil. Unlike Lorien, Daravin's Faith does not ascribe any Holy properties to the Kindred, and instead denounces them as deliverers of false prophecies, thieves of The Coming King's glory in order to further their own goals. Thus, there is a wide sectarian schism between the faiths of the two nations, and in Daravin any reverence for the Kindred is considered blasphemy.

Interestingly, while worship of the Kindred is disallowed within the Empire, worship of the Living Gods is tolerated and often simultaneous with the Omen. Many Daravain believe that the Coming King commands the Living Gods -- that he is their progenitor or ruler, and that they are aspects given unto the world by him. It is from this theological perception that Daravin's Living-styled symbology emerged from, with the creatures acting as a religious icon for many. Of late there has been considerable push back to this idea from within the Maseine - or Daravin's clergy - who claim that the Messiah will eradicate all false Gods upon his return, including the Living Gods.

Instead, they assert that the Living Gods are merely heretical distortions of Ulen's heavenly arbiters, the Achra, who command a level of power and divine authority similar to what mortals believe the Living Gods possess. This view, marginalizing the Living Gods as mistaken symbols of heresy, has become more mainstream in the Empire as the years have gone on. Instead, they promote the sun and a moon crossed with a key as Daravin's national symbol, with Ulen's Eye the symbol of the faith. References to the Adac in theological circles have become, over time, anathema.

The Maseine follow the lead of the Pontifex, the leader of Daravin's sect of the Omen. Unlike the Archlector of Nivenhain, the Pontifex does not exist within a bureaucratic chain serving other masters. He -- for the seat is currently held by a man known as Pontifex Ratheran -- is largely unaccountable to others; to the Emperant, even the Entente. While he leverages this authority with care, it is often said that the Pontifex of Daravin is the one man even the Entente scurry from. Daravin’s Omen is very powerful, and for too long unchecked, or so much of the Nobility believes. It is an organization with the power of a Kingdom, even holding bishoprics within Empire territory that essentially act as theocratic principalities. The current Pontifex is to blame for much of this, having taken advantage of the Emperant’s poor centralization to seize many more powers and privileges. Yet despite his notoriety, the Pontifex is - to many - a mystery. Masked, many outside of the Omen have long forgotten who Ratheran once was, the powerful mage holding an almost God-like austere manner that often grounds those that he meets.

Unlike in Lorien, Daravin's Omen is treated with widespread devotion and reverence. Genuine worship of the Returning King is common, with the vast majority of Daravain people attending weekly ceremonies in his honor. The communal aspect of His worship is much more deeply ingrained into society, unique in its patronage towards a monotheistic deity. There is also a much more developed set of values and principles natural to the Empire's sect of the Omen, which is technically known as 'Ulendreaism', after the apparent name of the Returning King, Ulen. Most of this language is kept to theological circles, however, and the common Daravain will simply refer to the religion as 'the Faith' and its deity as 'the Returning King', 'the One Divine', 'the Redeemer' or simply 'God'.

The values of Daravin's Omen are vast, but core concepts include modesty, diligence, devotion, filial piety and mutual respect. While the values of the faith are benign, these values scarcely apply to the unfaithful who are reviled so intensely as to become natural foes. It is for reasons of faith, Daravin often claims, that it goes to war so frequently with its neighboring states.

Military
The military of Daravin is headed largely by a single faction, though mercenary groups from Cathena, Lorien’s Argent and the Free Cities are often employed for squabbles between the Entente. The primary military organization is known as the ‘Halamire’, a massive coalition of forces offered by each of the land-holding Entente, comprised of members of the Nobility as mage-commanders, an often equal station to the most skilled of Valran, with the lower echelons of society fulfilling the role of foot soldiers. Many of the mages of the military act as its cavalry, an elite troop with high mobility raining arcane death upon their foes.

Even compared to Atharen's large nations, Daravin’s military is known to be among the greatest — though it does not match up to the Grisith Empire, it is feared among its neighboring states and were it not for the Empire’s constant wars internally and otherwise, Daravin could truly amass a force capable of washing over many of its nearest foes.

Laws
The law in Daravin is a subjective thing. Among slaves and the lower classes, it is a swift and brutal method of retribution, while to the Empire’s elite it is often either ignored or utilized as a method of capitalizing on a rival’s weakness. Laws change all the time. An Entente Lord who believes strongly in the Omen’s teachings may change the law to disallow private debauchery - or he may only do so in order to punish one of his vassals, who is known to often partake in such things. The law may be utilized seemingly spontaneously at the culmination of a grand plot, to hold even the Lord of a realm to account, with evidence surmounting against him. Or those laws may be annulled immediately, within court, in order to protect an Entente from such conspiracies.

Like nearly everything else in Daravin, the law is another game, another aspect of the Candor. It can be used against someone to see their demotion through, or to have them killed, or simply to shame them. It can be used to humble a Noble’s children or as a threat against future foes. To those less than the Valran, however, it is not quite such a grey area. Daravin’s laws tend to be extensive, sometimes overlapping and generally very strict and orderly. Slaves have special laws that apply to them - they are disallowed from reading without permission from an Entente, they cannot reproduce without their master’s allowance, and even minor forms of defiance are often met with dismemberment or execution.

Other laws tend to be fairly typical, disallowing murder, larceny, rape an other such things — at least between citizens. Many of Daravin’s laws are also not explicitly stated but may be culturally enforced, such as modesty laws. These laws are interestingly the only ones more strictly enforced upon Entente and Valran, with slaves and peasants prone to wandering the streets with - shockingly to the Nobles - exposed male chests or the audacity of a woman’s calves. To do so among the Entente may indeed be met with short term, though undoubtedly comfortable, imprisonment.

[Tyranny]

Genteven

The Land

Climate and Agriculture
Daravin's climate is warm and ideal, bountifully covered in farmlands, drylands, savannah more inland, and coastal climates along the sea-like rivers that run through the Empire. Though the summers are hot they tend to be dry, and the winters merciful. Temperature does not vary all too much between the seasons, particularly in the south, due to the south's equatorial placement. The north's climate remains warm but somewhat more temperate, with many preferring Genteven's cooler seasons of Glade and Ash, and the variance that comes as one draws closer to Lorien.

It is no surprise that the climate and terrain of Daravin is lauded as a great boon upon the Empire, and before the time of the Bleeding it was the heart of Imperial agriculture, as well as being one of the Empire's most populous regions. Unfortunately, since the Bleeding there have been many adverse effects that have plagued Mornoth, with these adversities so severe along Daravin's eastern coast that the entire coastline is nearly uninhabitable.

The Empire is plagued by consistent and abrasive dust storms, some large enough to bury towns, with horrific mutations appearing on those who come into sustained contact with the dust. Many die from these storms, or afterward, acquiring symptoms akin to severe threshold sickness before passing on. Though these issues become lesser as one goes farther westward, it was only in the year 106 that Amoren was besieged by a massive cloud of volatile dust, the culmination of a storm that had ravaged Daravin's interior for months.

Despite these setbacks, the somewhat arid, tropical but also green and welcoming lands of Daravin are spoken of in legend - old and new. It is a land many of its residents are proud of, helping further the Empire's jingoistic sense of national identity.

Realm
Before delving into the specific cities and regions of the Empire, one unexplored but integral aspect of Daravin's culture is the dividing line that many citizens of the Empire view the realm with. North and South Daravin, respectively, are two vastly unique regions that carry many variations of culture, ideology and even language. Everything below the Amoras River - the western facing river that Genteven sits against - is considered South Daravin, while everything above is considered North. South Daravin is more than twice the size of its Northern counterpart, and holds over sixty percent of the Empire's total population.

As a seemingly immediate penalty of this cultural division, South Daravin and its Nobility carry a much higher level of autonomy than the North. The Southern Entente are ruthless and unaccountable, with many of them independently going as far as declaring wars on neighboring countries. As a result of this chaotic political structure, Daravin has a very poor system of land and title acquisition and the borders of Montiens are constantly changing by the will of the Empire's scheming magi.

So -- what is more important is Daravin's greater cities, and their importance to the Empire at large. Most central to Daravin, obviously, is Genteven. The historical capital of the old province since before the Bleeding, Genteven is an ancient city once occupied by sheep herders and peddlers of suspicious goods. In the last thousand years it has grown to be one of Mornoth's most successful hubs of wealth and trade, and much of the Empire's history has been born in the imperious city.

Following Genteven is Arlain, the heart of South Daravin and its largest city. Arlain is an old city with a long history -- it was once the capital of Silor, the old Sil'norai Kingdom. Originally named Elaine Indorin after Riala Elaine, the city's name has since morphed. Arlain is a symbol of glory for the people of Daravin - a triumph over old Empires, a piece of ancient history and a standing monument to the full breadth of the arcane and the way in which it has evolved over time. As an old Elven city, Arlain has unique architecture that makes it stand out from its neighbors. Perhaps due to the ingenuity of the structures, many of them largely stood even after the Bleeding, and have been kept in excellent condition by the city's inhabitants. Arlain is looked to with great reverence by nearly all citizens of the Empire, said to be beautiful beyond comprehension.

Interesting to note is that not far from Arlain, scattered along the edges of a broken mountain, there is a ruin of a massive city once situated in the sky — this city, too, was once Elven and was previously known as Nilfandel. Before the Bleeding, Nilfandel and Arlain were called twin cities, and both were among the Unbroken Empire’s greatest municipal areas. The Bleeding somehow destabilized Nilfandel and forced it to plunge from the sky, cleaving off large sections of the mountain it previously looked over, with much of it falling into the River Vinasir. The shockwave was enough to force many of Arlain’s tallest towers to plummet, though the mountain absorbed much of the force of the fall. Today, this ruin is infrequently explored, as it is rife with violent arcane energy.

After Arlain in prominence is Rathrouen, the Empire’s northernmost city and the frontier from which many great battles with Lorien have been fought in the past. Rathrouen has an astoundingly high slave population at nearly eighty percent of the city’s inhabitants, many of them forced to contend with Hollow incursions by the Northern Kingdom by their masters. Afterwards they are often reanimated as undead slaves to continue the fight, with virtually all land north of the city a scarred war zone covered in Hollows and undead. Despite this, with a large Halamire fortress located adjacent to the city, the residents of Rathrouen are far from endangered.

Critical to the city’s success is its slave labor, with the land around the city littered with abundant resources fundamental to maintaining the Empire’s infrastructure and army. Rathrouen is a city that Daravin feels it absolutely cannot lose, lest it be overrun by its enemies.

Abundantly wealthy is the city of Amoren, Daravin’s gateway to Ailizane where members of the Entente’s lower echelons have formed large trade companies for importing and exporting with other powers, particularly the Grisith Empire and Khadai. Amoren is a city of fabulous decadence, noble gardens and extravagant, gilded palaces. It is elite and a place where many of South Daravin’s Nobility come to engage in lavish balls and partake in the Candor. Nearly every Entente of any worth has an estate in Amoren, and the poor are largely kept far from the city.

Carine, upon the immediate aftermath of the Bleeding, was a decimated ruin for nearly two hundred years. Since the formation of Daravin’s wing of the Order, however, it has since been a site of growth and the pioneering of anti-magic infrastructure and technologies, meant to soak up the raw corruption the cataclysm left behind. Carine is the Omen’s headquarters within Daravin, where the Pontifex resides as well as the faith’s three monastic orders. It is often referred to as the City of Graces, and it holds an immensely devout populous that tend to be involved with the Maseine in some way. Carine is a city of grand architecture, with the Empire’s largest structures — largely religious — residing in it. It is also the only major city in Daravin to be ruled exclusively by the Omen, as it is administratively run by the Pontifex.

Despite being one of Daravin’s premier cities and a place of great historical wealth, Daradan is presently a mess of internal strife spurred by competing Nobles, largely due to a succession crisis within House Cadeña, the ruling family of the city. There are several major gangs - all run by Nobles - and street violence and drug proliferation are highly common. Daradan is often scorned as a site of violence, blood rituals and masked orgies, with many Nobles wearing masks within city limits due to the blatant criminal violence often done on a targeted basis.

After the Bleeding, Daradan was obliterated much like Carine. Like the former city, it has since been redeveloped through great effort, but has been in decline in recent years. Many of the counter-measures meant to defend against post-Bleeding dangers have been neglected since the beginning of Daradan’s succession crisis, and so it is constantly besieged by dust storms and their corrosive effects. Mutations have begun to appear within the populous as a result, with many mages garnering vicious magical backlash, only leading them to greater dependence on Corrupted Gods who offer them other routes to meet their goals — for a price.

[Tyranny]

The Metrics

Economy
As a large nation with a great deal of natural resources, much of Daravin's prosperity comes from its internal self-sufficiency. While trade does occur between Daravin and other nations, largely through intermediary Entente, the relatively universally despised country fares poorly in international markets and thus tends to be responsible for the vast majority of its own prosperity. Daravin's greatest industries are kept up on the backs of slaves, with the Empire known for its massive mining operations in its north and west, as well as grueling luxury and textile manufacturers to the south employing similarly disposable laborers.

As mentioned earlier, Entente do trade, largely with the aristocracy of other nations. Daravin's great abundance of magical artifacts tend to be exported into other realms, where Nobles often utilize them as a sign of glamour and prestige. In particular, much of the wealth of the Entente comes from trade with one major partner: Cathena, to whom the Empire sells magical goods, the products of its World Mages. Cathena buys Daravinic products in massive amounts, selling Daravinic items to nations across the world that the Empire is traditionally at war with. This trade brings immense dranari into the Daravinic economy, and makes up a considerable portion of the Entente's annual earnings. Daravin is also known for its wine, sculpting and painting, and so it makes a great deal of wealth through its artists as they are paid atrocious amounts by the Lords of other realms.

In general, Daravin is a balanced economy, and requires very little imports or exports in order to optimally function.

Demographics
Total Population: 60,000,000
Humans: 87%
Half-Sil'norai: 6%
Druskai: 3%
Sil'norai: 2%
Hyr'norai: 1%
Others: 1%

► Show Spoiler

Regions:
Ardón: 10,100,000
Indoríes: 8,200,000
Couronne: 7,700,000
Verdiven: 6,800,000
Ostigen: 6,000,000

Ciseperant: 4,400,000
Valtoria: 3,600,000
Railón: 2,600,000
Lethon: 1,900,000
Chalis: 1,800,000
Ulendrís: 1,600,000
Lyonesse: 1,550,000
Verant: 1,350,000
Nevise: 850,000
Adienne: 800,000
Ardinoe: 750,000

Cities:
Genteven: 1,620,000
Arlain: 1,440,000
Rathrouen: 1,160,000
Amoren: 830,000
Carine: 570,000
Daradan: 490,000

Language
While Common is a widely understood language in Daravin, the Empire is known to have two major languages in addition to Common that most Common speakers find easy to learn. These languages are: Gentevarese, and Raillén (pron. Raiyén). Gentevarese, more often spoken, is predominant throughout the Empire and is often referred to as Daravinic Common. Raillén is local to southern and eastern Couronne, Railón (where it was supposedly born), Verant, Lethon and most of Ostigen. In total, around nineteen million of the Empire's inhabitants speak primarily Raillén, while the remaining forty one speak primarily Gentevarese.

Gentevarese, if spoken IRP, closely resembles modern French and French can be used for Gentevarese dialogue (so long as translations are added in italics). Raillén follows the same rules, and instead resembles modern Spanish. People in Daravin can understand and communicate with regular Common speakers, as they use Common to communicate with one another when traveling internally. This is largely due to the fact that Common, coming from the Unbroken Empire, is the root language of both of these languages and both are built from it, though they have evolved over time and diverged as centuries have passed.

Other somewhat common languages in the Empire include Silvain and Dhanaryn, with Silvain by far the second most common. However, it is very rare to see any language other than Common and its dialects in daily life, as most Elves tend to only speak their native tongue at home.