Agerra - An ancient and mythical empire that claimed the blood of the creator gods in their veins, to have walked with them and to have witnessed their fall. As with many their power waned during the second age and their empire fell. Their descendants were killed by the Ray-das save a few which found their ways into Ajivha and those who came after them. A few who remember the Agerrans claim their blood within them.
The Aetherial Collective - Derisively referred to as the Sammah Gangari Tahna by some in the days before the Cataclysms, the Aetherial Collective was a communistic state formed of Ajivhans, Gangari worshipers, and various peoples who found themselves exiles from their own lands. Founded in the name of Ajivha and Gangari after the first burning of Grand Ajivha, they found themselves incapable of retaking their lands back under the heel of Aurora and seeing few places they could plan and build they made their home in the Ghost Marshes to escape the prying eyes they found watching them in their ancestral homeland. With the blessings of Gangari and his scions they attempted to carry on the Ajivhan traditions in the only ways they knew while carrying on the work they began before the first burning of their city. As the decades passed they discovered and mastered many wonders of the world, eventually culminating in the creation of the floating city of Gokvahar which became their capital. Having long plotted and finding their magics and sciences far surpassing any others they attempted to take advantage of the Second Auroran Civil War of the Third Age to retake the holy city of Grand Ajivha only to find their allies abandoning them and the Auroran hordes united and surrounding them. Forced into further isolationism, their spies worked their way into every facet of civilization and after the return of Gangari and his judging of Aurora to be corrupt and needing to be cleansed their armies drowned Aurora in weaponized gases before overwhelming and burning their way through those who fought beside the combined forces of the Krakari, the Luug, and the Grat. Their lands fell in the first of the Cataclysms and most of their ancient technologies and artifacts are thought lost to the warped silver of the marshes. They and those that came after them are still distrusted or hated by many for their part in the events that led to the cataclysms.
The Deep Tribes - The children of Therax, the strong and prideful Luug of the Deep Tribes have long lived in the deep tunnels and cavern systems of their ancient mountains. Tribal and xenophobic the Deep Tribes rarely left their homeland and so stagnated in their caves until the coming of the gods. Under the guidance of the gods Gangari and Cyth'raul they began finding their way in the world until the cult of Cyth'raul seized power and attempted to cull those who refused to worship their patron, and the Aurorans seeing their instability invaded and Cyth'raul breaking with the divine pact with Gangari rained fire upon Ajivha in retaliation. With the death of Cyth'raul, the Deep Tribes quickly folded and were swiftly annexed as part of Aurora and the Grat Shae.
The Grat Shae - A strange, tribal, and predatory people. The Grat Shae lived quietly within the whispering woods of the North until contact with settlers of the Aetherial Collective made them aware of the peoples of the lands. Stories of combat with Grat are few, as they hunt their enemy not only as soldiers but as hunters. Carnivores by nature they rarely took prisoners and their tendency was to feed upon the dead of both sides During the war they stood beside the Aetherial Collective and Gangari as a vast horde of mercenaries and during the cataclysms they retreated into their forest and sightings of them have been rare since, supposedly cursed.
Spoiler: The Holy Auroran Empire
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"The Holy Auroran Empire, later known as the Commonwealth of Aurora, was a multicultural theocratic empire that lasted approximately eight and a half centuries. Founded by the legendary Matthias, it's original citizens were human slaves escaped from the fleet of halfling warlord Turok. The new people came to dominate the archipelago in which they had settled and created a caste based society over the native human population, before suddenly undergoing a period of rapid expansion in their seventh century.
The Emperor of Aurora was the centre of the state, commonly believed to be a living incarnation of Father Matthias. Adherence to the Imperial Cult was compulsory, other religious practices being heterogeneous and often based on local custom. The rise of Aurora coincided with the coming to the throne of the Princely family of Verde, long having ruled that island as a duchy. Traditionally, any male-line descendants of Matthias were eligible to the throne, decided in an election of all those eligible. In practice, powerful nobles determined the results beforehand. Thirteen year old Kaius of Verde was elected with the support of his uncle Octavius, who in turn was created regent. He held this position for five years, heralding reforms including the first Parliament of Aurora, albeit filled mainly by nobles. After Kaius III reached his majority however, a power struggle between him and his uncle entailed, which led to his deposition and eventual murder by a servant of the god Lysei. Octavius replaced Kaius with his eight year old brother Maximus, assuming the younger boy would be easier to control. The child defied his uncle's expectations however and learning of his older brother's fate, conspired with his counsellors to overthrow Octavius. The plan succeeded and Octavius was slain by an angry mob.
The half-century reign of Maximus was a period of unparalleled prosperity for Aurora, as it expanded across much of the known world. Social reforms such as the abolition of slavery were implemented, and the Parliament of Aurora was reinstated with representatives from communities and clergy. This peace was only marred by a short dynastic dispute with Julius, the posthumous son of Kaius III, along with wars of conquest with the Ray-Das and Deep Tribes. Ajivha was settled at this time, while Mereton was annexed by treaty and royal marriage.
Along with the human kingdoms of Ajivha and Mereton, significant numbers of halflings, luug and driders lived within the Empire. While at times these races chafed with the human majority, they were generally accorded similar rights as ordinary humans and appointed a leader of their own species for their native provinces.
Tensions towards the end of Maximus' reign lead to further civil war and the formation of the short-lived People's Republic of Aurora. Early victories led to the fall of the capital Nova Verde and the suicide of the Emperor, the revolutionary state quickly collapsed however and the empire restored under the seven year old grandson of Maximus, Aurelius Daigoro. The child emperor's blessing by the god Jashiki and the protection of the immortal bodyguard Badger ensured the restored regime's success. The industrial revolution underwent full swing in his long reign, as Aurora's gains were consolidated.
At its height under the House of Verde, the Auroran Commonwealth covered more than a third of the known world and over half its population. After the death of Aurelius Daigoro at the age of seventy two however, the only surviving male members of Verde were young children and the empire fell into chaos as various princely families attempted to assert their long dormant claims to the throne. A decade followed in which five different emperors reigned, often at the same time in different parts of the empire. It was in this state that a reawakened Gangari found Aurora, and judging it to have become corrupt, he unleashed the war that brought the world to its knees and ended the Auroran Empire.
In these modern times, Aurora is still recalled as humanity's pinnacle and its religion practiced across much of the world. Claims to the Imperial throne are made by a number of petty kings and dukes, none are widely accepted or come close to the former glories of Aurora, however."
The Kingdom of Mereton - A small kingdom of humans that stood during the Second Age and early Third Age. A feudal state, the kingdom of Mereton prided itself upon the discipline and honour of both it's nobility and it's peasants. During the Third Age Mereton was peacefully annexed by Aurora and joined with it as a kingdom under Aurora's Emperor. During the fourth age their kind returned to their old ways and held their walls against the outside, becoming xenophobic over time due to the constant assaults against their holds.
Rok Lo Sha - A little remembered group of Yish tribes that once lived within a land known as the Ghost Marshes. Few remember them outside of stories passed down since the second age, of those who wandered into their lands and never returned. It was claimed after a series of plagues weakened them that they fell apart, before joining with those who became known as the Aetherial Collective, an offering of divine strength and order.
The Sammah Ajivha Tahna - The people of the first city, The Sons of Grand Ajivha were an ancient, industrious, and fortuitous people. In their desert they toiled in service to their city until the return of gods and the appearance of Gangari. Under him and his blessings their knowledge, their industry, and their wealth grew as did their ambition until their city for the first time in it's history burned. The common legend surrounding their downfall goes that the Ajivhans meddled in matters beyond mortals and payed the price in blood and fire and that the Aurorans stepped in to help them rebuild. The truth of the matter is that Aurora's greed knew no limits and that they turned upon their longest allies, turning the magic of their patron Lysei against the city and Ajivhas creations against it's populace. Few outside of those descended from Ajivha remember the truth of the affair and in many who do remember the hatred that resulted from the matter still burns in their hearts.
The Meritocracy of Saranda - A little remembered state that briefly existed during the Third Age, Saranda was a Meritocratic state consisting of Driders. Founded by Lysei and Gangari for the betterment of Driders and protection of the people's of the land it sat peacefully attempting to master the few sciences and magics that interested their queens, and trading with it's few neighbours. It did this until Auroran invasion early in the Third Age during which it was annexed and its people pressed into service. The Driders of Saranda and of Aurora for that matter were gassed alongside the rest of the creatures that became associated with Khalorean.
The Raptor States - A federated collection of Krakari houses and organizations, the Raptor States were an industrious and fragmented people that prided themselves on intelligence, guile, and charisma. The Raptor States seeking more and more resources to feed both their ever hungry populace and their greed turned to anything that showed them profit, science and industry, colonization of any land they could find, and to the few gods that showed their faces to them piety. Their people were only matched by the Aurorans in their desires and came into frequent conflict with all but them.
By the end of the Third Age their science and industrial might exceeded all and their military wore their accomplishments proudly as mechanized cavalry and artillery became the basis of their combat doctrines. During the great war they stood beside their long allies the Aetherial Collective and their shared patron deity and brought war to Aurora. During the Cataclysms they were forced to abandon the majority of their sciences in favour of their old natures, but have otherwise remained intact
The Ray Das - The piratical halflings known as the Ray Das are said to have made an attempt at settling the lands in a more organized than their people were used to. After raiding the Raptor States for months on end, the Krakari and their Auroran trade partners invaded and annexed the Ray Das settlements and were made to serve their empires. During the fourth age their people returned to the coasts and their old ways.
The Nations of the Fourth Age
The Ajivhan Khaganate - The Ajivhan Khaganate is a tribal collection primarily of the various surviving descendants of Ajivha and the Aetherial Collective, united under a Khagan. The Ajivhan Khaganate was founded by elements of the Aetherial Collective's silver legion that during the first of the Cataclysms retreated to the then unoccupied city of Onchesmos, the once fortress capital of the Drider nation of Saranda. Over the years as the Legionaries attempted to wait out the storm refugees and militias both from their own side and from their various neighbours were taken in and absorbed, and as the decades and centuries went on the nascent Khanagate grew from this fortress slowly as it attempted to settle and absorb neighbouring tribes.
A culture built upon both guile and the bond of one's word, Khaganate tents and horsemen can be seen across the South their reputation mixed and dependent upon the individual khans, most thought of as wandering merchants or raiding parties with little direction coming from the Khagan in the fortress city now known as New Ajivha. The Ajivhan Khaganate is primarily formed of Corvans, most of their progenitors being composed of the old variety and as time went on most of the Khaganate having slowly become the new variety. A few Krakari and Luug can be found amongst them.
The Dead Republic - The Dead Republic is a collection of various immortals and undead living upon the archipelago that once served as the capital of Aurora. After the Ascendant disappeared the few surviving revenants and vampires upon the smited archipelago banded together for survival and to attempt to rebuild their former glory. As time went on the population grew as other revenants, vampires, and eventually simulacra found their way to the isles and as the locals learned of the fate of the rest of the world this goal was slowly abandoned to become that of simply enduring in the world.
The most knowledgeable people in all regards, the republic is the last bastion of the old world as it was. Sciences and magics are maintained by practiced minds, attempting to hold onto what they remember of their gods and the world that rose and fell in their wake. The superstitions of the rest of the world never truly settled into them and stories abound within the republic of districts suddenly exploding in violet flames and taking dozens with them.
The republic is ruled by a council of seven, their names unknown outside of the republic, and they hold the republic together with an iron fist, knowing the dangers of immortality being thrust upon mortals first hand. Mild insanities are common place and for the safety of all, the psychotic are herded into makeshift fortress asylums to be let loose as a militia upon any who threaten the islands.
The Dead Republic is thought of by most as a cursed people in a cursed land, and though their riches and wisdom are known few other than dead and immortals try to deal with them.