Sorry for being a downer. I was just really hoping that would work out and then, well, kinda feeling crushed right now. Didn't realize how much I wanted it because I was so nervous until now, y'know? :\ Anyway, here.
NATIONS OF LATIVIAN CONTINENT:
'The Reich':
This nation sprouted from a confederacy of tribes dwelling in fortified villages, which slowly transformed into cities, hill forts, or sometimes, both. The capital city changed during the fall of First and Second Reich; the initial capital was in Vulpis, then it was moved to the city of Alviand, and then it was moved to the Genvenn, a city constructed for the sole purpose of being administrative center of the Third Reich.
The Reich is a militaristic authocracy with bits of republican inventions; the military power and national security lies within the hand of Kaiser, but the matters of administration, trade and such are in the hands of Senate. Before the Third Reich, there was no Senate, and the Kaisers were choosen simply by bloodlines; the eldest son of the Kaiser became the next Kaiser upon his father's death.
There were three Reiches so far, and the FOurth is merely budding; it was the very first Kaiser who spoke to his men; 'In an event that my son is an idiot, a hedonist, a mongrel or swine, you will stab him and kill him, and then you will choose the man who is more suited to become the embodiment of myself'. So far, this 'Sacred Law of Kaiser' was applied three times, and to certain degree, through whole Third Reich.
The First Reich saw the establishment of feudal system, creation of cities and unification of the smaller states. It wasn't until the Fourth Kaiser that the people of the 'Reich' were united under one ruler. The First Reich dabbled in matters arcane and contacted with spirits and mysterious Dragons. It was an era of heroic warriors and powerful magicians.
All kinds of magic flourished, and in the later days of the First Reich, the Saint Perisca began her Journey of Thousand Steps; the holy maiden traveled through swamps and snowstorms, and healed the wounded and sick, endured poverty, hunger and sickness for twenty years, and finally died in what is today the Holy City of Periscum. The First Reich ended when the only son of Sixteenth Kaiser, Joachim, began showing marks of mental instability. Merely a month after his coronation, the Sixteenth Kaiser was told the 'Sacred Law' and stabbed by his advisors and generals. General of the Winged Riders, Karel, became the First Kaiser of Second Reich.
The Second Reich was rather short-lived; it was in power for barely a century and had four Kaisers in total; however, during that short period of time, it made contact with then traveling nomads of Ar-Maji in the south, as well as the wood-dwellers, the Han, in the west. The Second Reich seen expansion to the north-west. Architecture, sciences and arts were in their golden era; the tall, ornate buildings with many towers and statues slowly replaces stout, thick brick buildings. The explorers, both land and sea-bound, expanded the knowledge of the Reich people about the world, whilst scholars turned from mysticism and arcane to observation, calculation and experimentation with the nature and the world.
The Third Reich began when General Markus Farenfalk murdered the Fourth Kaiser of Second Reich, claiming that high taxation of the people and lavish, depraved lifestyle of the Kaiser does not follow the traditions. He began construction of the new capital, Genvenn (finished during the reign of Second Emperor, Juren). Third Reich lasted in power for over half a millenium and was an era of reforms, wealth and intelligence, but also an era of constant warfare as well as territorial expanse, mostly to the south, toward Ar-Maji. The feudal system was reworked; the serfs became free farmers. Various taxes were consolidated into either 'Household Tax' and 'Work Tax'. But the greatest change came with the Kaisers themselves; the very First Kaiser of Third Reich disowned his three sons, and pointed at one of his advisors, proclaiming him the Kaiser. The tradition quickly sprang and of all thirty-two Kaisers of Third Reich, all of them were appointed by previous Kaiser, and none were direct relatives of their predecessors. Also, the Senate was formed, of wisemen and advisors, who helped the Kaiser with administration and politics on the lesser scale.
The Third Reich was definitely the most violent of them all. First century saw several long wars with the newly formed sultanate of Ar-Maji; the next fifty years saw a civil war and fragmentation of the Reich, which was united in twenty years against the threat of Han people. The wars with the Han lasted for two centuries, before the Sixth Dragon Emperor of Han formed a peace treaty. The people of the Reich enjoyed mere twenty years of peace before the savages of the Northlands began raiding the villages and cities on the northern borders. Then, there was another century of the warfare with the Han, and the Reich almost ceased to exist as the Han swept over the central territories and the army of Tiger General, Xi Wang Shang was the only external force to ever lay siege the Reich capital of Genvenn. Only thanks to the charisma and persuasion of the twenty-ninth Kaiser, Gregor, the peace was reached.
The last Kaiser of the Third Reich, Friedrich, changed the main role of the military from warfare to protection of the borders and internal security. He was also a passionate artchitect and builder. It was under his rule when the Reich built the Great Wall of the West; the work on Great Canal began; and it was in his later years when the Grand Cathedral of Saint Perisca in Genvenn was built, and he expanded the Kaiser's Road from a simple brick road between Genvenn and Alviand to a whole system of highways, connecting the three capitals, the pilgrimage city of Perde and to-be-middlepoint of Great Canal, Zendre. Unfortunately, all those projects overly strained both the populace and the treasury in the fifteen years of Kaiser's rule, and because of this, Olaf Friedrikssen, one of the most powerful Senators, killed the last Kaiser of the Third Reich at the very gate of the Senate, in the year 509T.R.C
The Fourth Reich is the current one. It had three Kaisers so far, and saw the return of the 'Kaisers by bloodline' style, with a small change; instead of the eldest son getting the crown, it was the most adept, popular and wise one, choosen together by the Kaiser and the Senate.
During the Fourth Reich, the Han People attacked again, but this time the military experience and Great Wall stymied their advance. However, they managed to re-capture the old lands the lost early during Third Reich. As there were already cities and Reich people living there, this saw the creation of the Free Duchy of Vigen, which serves as an 'ambassador of peace' between Reich and the Han.
The Second Kaiser died suddenly shortly after his son, Friedrich, was appointed as Third Emperor, but merely a week after his coronation he dissappeared from the Kaiser's Palace. The Reich, while looking for the young man, is currently ruled by the Senate, and already the Han, and Ar-Maji, and even the savages from the north are pressing hard against the borders, whilst minor nobles and landlords entertain the thoughts of rebellion and independence.
Important cities, places and landmarks of the Reich:
Vulpis - Capital of the First Reich, currently the main shipyard and trading port of the Reich on the eastern coast.
Alviand - The City of Thousand Scholars, and capital of the Second Reich. The famous University of the Arcane is located there.
Genvenn - The City of Granite and Marble, constructed from scratch to serve as Capital of Third, and Fourth Reich.
Kaiser's Road - A system of brick roads, four wagons wide, connecting major cities of the Reich. The outpost-cities on the Road are named by numbers; Einz, Zwei, Drei on the road between Alviand and Genvenn, Vier and Funf on the way to Perde and Vulpis respectively, and Sechs and Sieben on the road between Genvenn and Zendre.
The Grand Canal - Unfinished, daring project to connect the eastern and western waters. It was stopped mid-way, as there was no resources to complete the project. The ending point of the current Canal is the city of Zendre.
The Great Wall - Line of fortifications starting at the western coast, at the city of Westesse, and currently ending at the tri-point border between Han, Reich and Free Duchy of Vigen. It extended north, encircling Vigen and reaching into northern territories, but the treaty between Han and Reich called for demoliton of the parts near Vigen, and as of today, the parts north of the Duchy fell into disrepair.
Free Duchy of Vigen - An independent part of the Reich, Vigen Duchy serves as a bridge between Reich and Han.
Perde - A border city, from which starts the Pilgrimage Road to the Holy City of Periscum. It is estimated that every year, over fifteen thousand people pass the gates of the Perde city.
Eurice - Mining city and the heart of diamond and jewelry industry of the Reich, also called 'The City of Golden Roofs'.
Vessfaren - A distant port city, formally part of the Reich. It was founded during the second century of the Third Reich, and serves as the final 'civilized' point for any expedition leading south-west along the coast, or west, into the Western Expanse.
'The Han':
The Han are forest dwellers, living in large cities made of wood and clay. Their rulers are monarchs, choosen by bloodlines or during ritual combat. These rulers are 'Emperors of Han People', and they are known to follow a system of 'Three Divine Beasts'; Tiger Emperor is ruthless and Qi-Rin (flying dog) is wise and benevolent, while Dragon Emperor is a monarch with views and politics somewhere in-between.
The Han have a history that reaches almost two thousand years into the past which means that the first city-kings of Han were warring amongst each other for dominance over the vast jungle and the Han settlements there, while the Reich people were still living in small villages, tending to their crops and having chieftains and shamans for leadership and guidance.
The first Emperor is said to be son of Nu and Wa, the sun god and moon goddess; the Han believe in a system of gods based on various aspects of the nature; sun and moon, sky and earth, mountains and forests and sea and such. Their pantheon consists of over twenty deities, most of them related in some way to each other. They also take great care to honor their dead and ancestors, and shamanism and 'ghost-talking' is still widely practiced in the Han Empire.
The Han made contact with the Reich during the reign of the Dragon Emperor Ling Wu, the fifth Emperor of the Ling Dynasty. From the very beginning of the diplomatic relations between the two nations, there was either an unstable peace or bloody warfare. The Han almost conquered the Reich, but a peace treaty was made.
In recent years, there was lots of in-fighting between the members of the Qing Dynasty, and the eigth Emperor announced his will to become Tiger Emperor; and shortly afterwards, the lands of Han became less friendly to the travelers from the Reich. No one knows, however, if this will stay this way, or maybe there will be another war...
'Ar-Maji':
The great savannah to the south is the birthplace of the Ar-Maji. At first, they were nomadic tribes, roaming alongside their herds, but ultimately they settled down and united under Ri, a charismatic chieftain and skilled warrior. His prodigy changed the lifestyle of the Ar-Maji from nomadic to agricultural, and then to feudal system backed with the theocracy based on mysticism and solar worship.
The Ar-Maji are still very attached to their horses; their herds roam the grassy land as their people live a simple life of farming and hunting. The black-haired, dark-skinned people love a good fight but so far there weren't many times when they were at war with the Reich; according to their scholars, they had more work with the 'Mirshi' and the 'Cat-People of Qad Qarh' who live, respectively, south-west and south-east from Ar-Maji sultanate.
When it comes to magic, Ar-Maji still dabble in the darker, shamanistic rituals, and their shamans and druids are often employed or recruited into their armies, even the border patrols.
'Periscum':
Theocracy founded after the death of Saint Perisca, the Virgin Maiden and Sacred Healer. The only large population center is the Holy City of Periscum, and most of the little territory is comprised of farmlands and meadows. The Periscans are quite isolationist and not keen for exploration, which is quite a shame considering the ideal location for expenditions to the east. The main revenue of the Holy City is, unsurprisingly, anything related to the worship of Saint Perisca; the pilgrims from the Reich leave a fortune in the hotels, cathedrals and sacred places of the Periscum lands.
In terms of politics and leadership, Periscum is led by the Servant of Her Holiness, and a conclave of bishops from whom the very next Servant is choosen upon the death, or in rare cases, abdication of the Servant. Most of the studies on the divine magics are done in Periscum as well.
'Northlands':
Not a nation per se, but a colaition of settlements and villages in the lands and forests north-west from the Reich. The only 'city' is Gar; a mid-point for the travelers and traders between the two lands. Unfortunately, Gar is also a den of bandits, thieves and raiders. Northlands are wild lands, and the people here are wild as well.
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