Realthian Lands

Overview
The Realthian Lands is the birthplace of Velaug. It's also the place where empires have risen, fallen, and risen again. There is ample conflict, many nations feeling antipathy towards all others. The people of this land are of pale to mixed skin color. Cities can be massive, overwhelming all the senses with endless noise and movement. Villages could be the size of two homes and a church, and no one to operate said church. Foreigners are treated with disrespect, often considered second-class citizens in the eyes of aristocrats. If you use magic other than the types accepted, Velaug and Arcane, you will be hung, or worse.

There are many sovereignties in the Realthian Lands. They are listed later, describing many features and traits of their people, art, traditions and government.

Realth Range
The Realth Range is the greatest natural landmark of the continent. This natural border separates East, South, and West Realth from each other. It is the largest mountain range in the area, and it leads all the way from the center of Southrealth to Trader's Gulf.

The Realth Range has thousands of communities at its base, dedicated to extracting valuable metals such as gold, silver, and bronze. There is one more even more valuable material. Adamantine. In other lands, this material is very hard to come by, and proves very expensive. As such, the upper echelon of soldiers from the Three Realthian countries are equipped with Adamantine armor, weapons, and arrow-tips. While many of the soldiers below this ranking still have pieces of adamantine equipment, they do not get all. And of course, the greatest export for all of the countries is Adamantine. Their biggest buyer is the Kahlithian Empire, whom occupy the North-Western part of the map. They do not many useful Realthian Mountains in their territory, but some say they plot to conquest Westrealth or Southrealth.

The largest mountain in the collection is Onisaries. Named after the god of Earth, Onisaries towers high into the sky. Onisaries is bordered on all sides, being mined out slowly. In many fairy tales, Onisaries was the first mountain of the Range ever, which may or may not be true. Continuing in these stories, the mountain is made from Moon-Rock, and it is the nest of all of the Dragons in the world. It is said that on top of the Onisaries was Caldra, of the City of Dragons. They commuted and transversed, until the Velaug Gods received word of the dirty dragon scum. They joined forces, and set siege to the city, destroying it and killing most of the dragons. The rest were scattered to the corners of the Earth, bound from the continent by Arcane Magic.

History of the Realthian Empire
Hundreds of years ago, before the Realthian Empire was broken into three countries, there existed a peaceful, powerful, and huge empire. The Realthian Empire. The Kahlithian Empire was but a small problem, not even occupying the land at all. It was but a footnote of the current transgressions at the time. Many were prosperous, happy, and life was going quite well. This was many, however. The few, the Veliegs, were not as happy. They were persecuted ever since the rule of Emperor Duolus the Grim. He set in motion a law that had any Veliegs killed or forced into service for the government as slaves and soldiers. For these few Veliegs, times were very tough and things were not looking too good.

There was a small flicker of a beam of hope, however. The year is 13 BRS. It is close to a major turning point in politics. The Emperor was assassinated by what was thought to be a Kahlithian Bloodknife. With this, the Emperor's 12 year old son was put into the throne, and his advisors recommended war. The 12 year old, Emperor Vahldagan the Worthless, was unsure of who to trust and what to do. He did, however, trust one of his father's favored aristocrats, General Jericho Greynard. He was respected, and he had helped crush a rebellion near the middle of his service to the Empire. He convinced the Emperor to give him control of the army as a stand-in military ruler. General Jericho assembled his forces outside of the Gem City of Realth. He gave a speech that still echoes throughout the minds of Veliegs to this day.

''"Be it enslavement or death, that is now the way of the Velieg. Duolus set in motion the act of tyranny, and his lineage is cursed and corrupt to the very core. Men and Women, you are not treated right. You are true soldiers, fighting for a tyrannical cause, a cause of hatred and rebellion against the words of our chosen gods. You have been fighting blindly for a defiled cause, set in stone to destroy those chosen by the gods themselves. Come, fight with me, and end tyranny in our land forever! Harm no innocents, set free Veliegs, and kill every member of the government you can lay your eyes on me. Let us set in motion a policy of freedom for all!" ''

Just after this speech, The Jericho Freedom Speech, he led his army into the gates of Realth, and slaughtered most of the aristocrats, including Emperor Vahldagan and his brother. This is the very moment a new era was ushered in. Quickly, terror was upon the streets. While most did not harm innocents, some gangs of soldiers would beat peasants or worse... It was a bloodbath. Jericho himself stormed onto Emperor Vahldagan, and he summoned his never-before-seen Soulbound Weapon. It is said, that his sword was thrust through the Emperor's heart, and it vanished, dropping the child to the ground, lifeless as stone. Jericho declared Realth and the surrounding lands his own. He began a conquest that led to much bloodshed, mostly on the sides of their adversaries. The closest assembled army was on the other side of the Realth Range, allowing Jericho to take most of what is now known as Westrealth.

There was one loose end, however. In the city of Ryphon was the rest of the previous government. They also had the Emperor's older sister, Sidalas, at the city. They quickly assembled an army and declared what is now Southrealth and Eastrealth, The Eastrealth Kingdom. They instated the second Realthian Empress, Sidalas. In return, Jericho declared his side of the mountain range Westrealth, and assembled himself many regiments and armies. He brought together groups of newly-freed Veliegs and welcomed them into the military, encouraging them to hone their powers for the war. He collected a few Veliegs, and other military generals whom had assisted him. He gathered respected and fair governors and mayors, and even a couple scribes. Some say he even enlisted a Historian. He gathered all these men to instate the First Westrealth Oligarchy. He had fifteen men serve with him as Oligarchs, and he declared himself First Oligarch, whom had a greater vote than all the others. He then invited thirty Vice-Oligarchs, whom had half the vote of a normal Oligarch. Thirteen of these vice oligarchs were elected by the population of Westrealth. The war raged on, and eventually, it ended. With the mountain in their way, it would take centuries to find an ending, and neither sovereignty had the want to fight for centuries. The war ended on ARS 1. The first year of the new era. There was a celebration held at Realth, for all those Veliegs relieved of enslavement, and saved from eventual death.

Things were not going well in Eastrealth. Empress Sidalas was not a natural at her position. She passed a law that put a harder push on Veliegs, and taxed the common people even further than before. Many grew so poor that they ate dirt, bark, and their own flesh for nutrition. Not nearly ten years into her reign, a common rebellion broke out. There had been a couple before recently during her reign, but not nearly as bad as this one. The rebels wanted equal rights for Veliegs and extremely lower taxes. Aristocrats were divided, but most told the Empress to say no to the demands. An army was enlisted, and it marched from Ryphon to the rebels in Veleke. They were taking a mountain pass, commonly used by larger forces during the era of the Realthian Empire. Without warning, a mass of men flooded from the mountain sides, pouring out by the thousands. They wore adamantine armor, and a symbol; A white star on a red back ground with a mountain reaching the very bottom of the star. The flag of Westrealth. The army was destroyed, but some managed to escape on horseback, galloping back to Ryphon. The Westrealth army set a strong border patrol, and defended the lands. Quickly, ideas spread throughout the minds of the semi-liberated Realthians. The governors and mayors of current-day Southrealth met together, and all decided to declare their lands a state of Democracy, enlisting the people as rulers. The news spread, and when it did, the Westrealth army was gone as quickly as they'd come. Southrealth replaced them with an army of semi-trained soldiers, and looked inwards towards their own government. They split the lands into fifteen provinces, and elected a new Duke for each. Dukes of Southrealth now had to serve the people, and could be voted out of office by the people of their province. The previous governors were elected into the federal branch. The Southrealth government is described further in the next chapters.