I am back! And at long last, here it is:

[hider=Dominion of Epha]
[center][h2][color=lightcyan][b][i]Dominion of Epha[/i][/b][/color][/h2][/center]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/F8nKwZK.png[/img][/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Brief Description[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]Epha is the territory on the northern, snowy plains and mountains of Mycoria. The original inhabitants quickly laid claim to the territory, taking the dangerous areas for themselves safe in the knowledge that there wouldn’t be a lot of reason for their claim to be revoked. The Ephan people dislike the notion of being a vassal for they believe in freedom and independence, and believe in working toward supporting the Dominion of Epha as a whole.[/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]The side your nation was on during the 3th rebellion[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]Epha was, and consistently has been, with the rebels.[/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Population/races[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]Epha’s most dominant race are Humans, however Epha has welcomed anyone and everyone within its borders, resulting in a mix of races and species. For the most part, Humans still rule the aristocracy.[/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Culture/society[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]Those who reside within the Dominion of Epha are hardened people. They do not believe that a person can be useless, only that they are [i]being[/i] useless, and strive to give everyone an opportunity to prove themselves. Those who are willing to contribute are rewarded with higher positions, with choice as to how they wish to help the Dominion as a whole, and have opportunities going forward to explore their own ventures. Those who are not willing, who leech off the Dominion’s resources, are thus [i]placed[/i] into a position where they contribute by force, which in almost all cases ends up being dumb labour. It’s often rumoured that the Dominion of Epha has no prisons, for criminals will often be made to ‘farm the snow’, a task that they will inevitably fail, though that rumour is false.

Rebellion is in the blood of Ephan citizens. They won’t stand for something that is unfair, or that they believe is not fair. This goes for the extreme lower-class citizens and poor of Epha; sometimes they will try to stand up against the Dominion, and be promptly put back in their place by Epha’s military. Within Epha, internal rebellions are often to make a point rather than to try and overthrow Epha’s government - often people just want more rights, and they are sometimes even granted these rights. They all understand that Epha is their chance for independence, and don’t want to lose that by overthrowing their own government, more-so just attempting to overthrow their local townships. Guards can often be hard-pressed in these times to crush any attempts at rebelling, and if one does start, to hold out until reinforcements can be pressed in.[/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Religion[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]Any Ephan citizen is permitted to practise any religion that they wish, however the government has laws in place that they require citizens to abide by. The religion that citizens practise must not involve the practise of harming anyone unless that person permits themselves to be harmed for religious practise; such permission is handled by the signing of paper documents, which are stored by the town’s guards in case such an issue arises. Additionally, any religion that is practised by an Ephan citizen should not drain on the Dominion’s resources to practise. Some citizens get around this requirement by purchasing what they need from foreign traders, or by gathering natural materials themselves if that is possible.[/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]History[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]There are many stories about the creation of the Dominion and the claiming of Epha, the snow lands. The one that is most often told, and is the truth, is that the Dominion sought to get away from everyone else, and were originally a people who were sick of the constant threat of losing what they had gained, either by taxation or the threat of their land being overtaken by those strong enough to do so. This contempt grew until the founders of the Dominion had a following, who marched their way into Epha, making a formal claim on the lands and the mountains that surrounded them; some of their more adventurous followers expanded out to the islands, which were then added to their claims. The Dominion expanded where nobody else wanted to, or weren’t willing to. Even the mountains were not safe from the Euphan expansion, their rocky cliffs offering shelter from the bellowing, freezing winds.

The truth was, while ancient cartographers had mapped out the land, they had thought the climate too harsh to truly explore. The Dominion only placed a few of it’s settlements on the land to brave the snowstorms and cold, the majority of its cities rested in cracks in the land; ravines and craters within the snow, where they had some defence from the cold winds. The capital city of Epha, Eos, was built within a grand ravine, with bridges and buildings stretching across its length. The territory was not just dangerous due to the weather however, as various animals, all carnivorous, large and starving, added to the overland danger. These animals were soon to be made a delicacy, as their meat was flavoursome, and their sparity in the continent meant they could place a hefty price on their export. As these dangerous beasts only resided in their home of snowy Epha, the Dominion felt safe with that income, and thus banned the outsourcing of any Ephan creatures, only their remains.

The Akronian arrival was something that the Dominion despised; They were a united people in their objective, to be free from outside rule. They stood against Akron from within their cold, natural fortress. It was perhaps one of the hardest locations for Akron to subject under their rule; the mountains surrounding Epha were difficult for Akron troops to surpass, and the Terrelistle Pass in the southwest was a natural chokepoint where Akronian troops were lost. Once, Akronian troops managed to push through the Terrelistle Pass, however were forced to fall back; by then, troops were dying of the cold alone. With most of their defensive efforts focused on the west, the Dominion of Epha left their eastern side open. Arkronian scouts reported about the ill defences in the east, and troops were pushed through the Milcaster pass in the northeast. Once the Arkronians established themselves within Epha territory, it was just a matter of time before they subjected the rest of Epha under their rule (though most definitely was not easy, as Ephans still fought until the last village was taken, and traversing the icy waters to Epha’s islands was a whole task on it’s own).

Relations between the Dominion of Epha and the Kingdom of Arkron was akin to a dog on a collar trying to constantly break free of it’s leash - perhaps the only saving grace that prevented a complete Arkron ruling was that Epha was straight to the point of what it wanted; as much independence as possible. To completely rule Epha would require Akron troops to fill the territory and bear the cold within. The Dominion sought positive relations vassals who had similar opinions of their ruler, while despising those who loyally followed Arkron’s directives. There was constant attempts to tighten the collar on Epha, to add on some chains, however that constantly failed. The Dominion joined every rebellion, and some could argue that their relation to Arkron was some of the beginning sparks of hope. In each rebellion, they strove to drive Arkron’s rule away from Epha, but as every one failed, they were yet again forced to bow down to Arkron. They would scream, they would shout, but at the very least, they bowed down because they had to.

With the passing of King Amon-Mar IV, and the current state of Rakon-Da, hope again rises within the Dominion. There are whispers in the street that another rebellion might be in the works with no ruling party to stop them, whereas others claim that a new ruler might be another chance to rightfully claim independence once more.[/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Government[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]The Dominion of Epha is ruled by an Aristocracy, who must gather whenever they wish to make major laws. The Aristocracy also has a singular Monarch, who is a descendant of the original leader of the settlers that made their home in Epha. The monarch has the power to make major law changes on their own, as well as overturn the decisions made by the Aristocracy, however wisely uses the former ability infrequently and the latter much less so. As the founding family has currently consistently remained in rule as monarchs without fault, they had not made any plans as to any contingencies if they suddenly are unfit to rule, an example being the death of a monarch without children to become the new monarch. Both the Monarch and the Aristocracy are required to train in fighting and military strategy. Though originally referred to as the Aristocrats and the King or Queen, this trend and the Dominion’s constant involvement in rebellions has changed the titles of the Aristocracts to ‘High Paladins’, and the monarch to the ‘High Sentinel’, which became lawful titles by the vote of the Aristocracy after the second rebellion, in spite of using traditional titles and was not overturned by the monarch at the time in an effort to remain in public support and at least let the Ephan citizens know that their leaders still appreciated them.[/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Economy[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]The Dominion of Epha’s main income as a nation comes from its exotic exports, such as meat from the various animals that inhabit Epha’s snow, as well as the untapped natural resources beneath the ice, which provide a steady supply of gems and other items that can be used for decoration. Internally, the Dominion of Epha does operate a wage-labour economy, with employers paying its workers for the work that they do.[/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Military[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]The Dominion of Epha holds a strong military, and their hulking forms can easily be identified on any battlefield; It is said that their warriors may very well be half-giants. Ephan warriors start by wearing furred clothing from head to toe to protect themselves from the Ephan cold, and the thickness of the pelts acts as armour itself. However, even then, their warriors are fitted for armour of steel. The heaviness of the equipment means that only the strongest of Ephans are on the frontline, with their lighter companions often being the bearers of equipment and supplies. These front-of-the-line warriors are known as beast-knights, for the fur that is visible under the metallic plates. There is a joke that the Ephan military has no idea what the word ‘light’ means. Many Ephan troops will bear an animal skull on their shoulders, each individual warrior’s testament to their own strength. Many hunters can also be utilised as a militia if a supplement to the main troops are required, for they are skilled with both their bows and their spears. Each warrior has to pledge their loyalty to snow of Epha and the government of Epha; allegiance to the Kingdom of Arkron is purposefully left out of the pledging in an act of spite against those they are a vassal to. Individual towns of Epha all contribute to the Dominion of Epha’s military with their own beast-knights and foot soldiers.

If there is one major flaw in the Dominion of Epha’s military, it [i]is[/i] the heaviness of it’s troops. Whilst this contributes well in battle, long-distance travelling cannot be done on foot. It relies on carriages and convoys to ferry it’s troops to their destination, so that the troops are not already fatigued upon arrival. Epha’s military also lacks a high number of cavalry, as Epha is too cold to maintain a large number of horses save those necessary for carriages, and so can often struggle with mobile threats.[/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Territory:[/color][/h3][/center]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/evFZ3Ep.png[/img][/center]

[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Factions:[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]This will be filled out in Roleplay, as these factions develop.[/center]


[center][h3][color=lightcyan]Characters:[/color][/h3][/center]
[center]This will be developed during the RP, and may act more as a list than anything.[/center]

[hider=High Sentinel Agustus Eyail - High Sentinel]
Name: Agustus Eyail
Gender: Male
Age: 36
Role within the Dominion: High Sentinel
[/hider]

[hider=High Paladin Anya Galloway]
Name: Anya Galloway
Gender: Female
Age: 44
Role within the Dominion: High Paladin
[/hider]

[hider=High Paladin Nylah Harlenton]
Name: Nylah Harlenton
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Role within the Dominion: High Paladin
[/hider]

[hider=High Paladin Charles McArthur]
Name: Charles McArthur
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Role within the Dominion: High Paladin
[/hider]


[/hider]