Broken Skies Lore. A 100 years ago the world was transformed, because of a last great War between the powers that be. A 100 years ago the Sorcerer King, the Emperor of the Viemese Empire was defeated. In a final attempt of spite he pulled down the moons from the Heavens and caused the great destruction of Ith. Continents were torn and blown apart and for a moment it seemed as if all life would be lost. But the core of the planet held and the magnetic field shifted to find its stability again. Whether by luck or sheer tenacity the planet held on. Though most of it was blown into space and the planet was but a shadow of its former self. Water became a scarcity, Air dominated and filled its place to be known as the Layers of Sky. The Layers of the world. New continents and islands floated and the world and the remnants of those that survived tried to rebuild or maintain their power. Kingdoms and Countries reshaped and reformed and the world would never be the same again. So it is recorded by the Chronicler Kantenay of Illitiah. The Different Countries of Ith: Belisio. Capital: Olysium A fairly large, stable and wealthy kingdom, its wealth lies mostly in their resource of sweet water and sustaining water wells. Forged around intertwined bonds of allegiances and known for its battle prowess. It was one of the few places Vaim hadn’t attempted to sack yet, due to its reputation and strength. Ruled by a King and Queen and a cast of noble families that kept the peace and order through the ability to rise in station within the Kingdom, through the Mage and Knighthood’s, it maintained strong defensive abilities. But when Vaim’s great conquering began, refugees fled to them, assimilating into Belisian society by taking on the lowest jobs they still had to prove themselves and were quite shunned by society. Its main power are the Knights and Dragon riders, accomplished fighters swearing themselves and pledging their lives to defend the kingdom. Still very feudalistic in nature it has maintained a crude balance amongst the tides of war and change. Though accepting of Mages, they have always had a good deal of prejudice against them, finding their strength deceiving and unnatural. Those that show signs of the gift often have a difficult road ahead for them, since they don’t actually have a recognized station at court, unlike their counterparts the Knights. Mere individuals of great capability and strength are allowed to spend time at Court and loyalty must be proven first. Vaim. Capital: New/Old Victus A rather turbulent Empire, once it was a relative large but weak nation, its rule was placed into the hands of a child Emperor who would be advised by the most powerful orders within the Empire. The Nobles, The Magical order and The Common Man. Each would supply representatives and advisors to speak for their faction. The Nobles did most of the ruling, strategizing and maintaining order. The Magical Order was focused on representing magic and ways for it to be used to the advantage of the Empire. They were also those that helped with the recording of history and laws. They helped the Nobles govern and brought a more spiritual side into the argument, trying to maintain a balance to counter the clinical and cutthroat thinking. And last were the representatives of the Common Man, often well-spoken business men of low birth or farmers. They would report on the troubles brewing within the Empire or stop the Nobles from grasping too much power. But all of that changed as their lands became less and less resourceful. Scarcity arose and the balance in power shifted. People spoke of a curse that plagued the land, one that would alter Vaim’s history forever… The Child Emperor the symbol of innocence and unity, grew sickly and perished. For the people this was a great loss, their symbol of hope and life, their spiritual leader was gone. A power vacuum suddenly appeared and the factions were eager to take their chance for change. Within the Magical Order voices whispered more ambitious tones and spoke of radical thoughts, whilst others clung to the traditions and truths of the past. A split happened creating those that called themselves the Faithful (Ahj-an-dhali) and the Reborn (Tahjai) and they became bitter rivals of one another. This grew to such extremes that they actively sought to oppose the other side regardless of their intent. In those turbulent years the Faithful managed to ally themselves with some of the more prestigious Nobles. Their intention was that they would create a Republic, they would return some freedoms to the people, offer them a ray of hope in those dark days. Vaim would become a place of freethinkers and intellectuals, a place for those with the ambition and will to rise, a place where there would be justice and education, a place where poverty would become a thing of the past. They would drag the crumbling Empire out of its misery and promise it a future it would have seized all on its own… Unbeknownst to them the Tahjai had noticed their plans and realized that if they wished to maintain their level of power they would have to undo themselves of their greatest opponents. They warned the lower Nobles and the more gullible of the Common people of a coup that they (the Faithful and some of the more prominent Nobles) would perform, they lied and manipulated the truth to fixate their hold on the ‘truth’ of the matter. A purge followed. The Lower Nobles went to challenge the more powerful houses, they tore them down and destroyed them. Whilst the other Noble Houses resisted, they were used as scapegoats their names dragged through the mud and family members sold off into slavery. The Commoners were send against the Faithful, the individuals dragged from their home and brought to the Tahjai to receive punishment for their treachery, if they were lucky. Most of them were beaten to death, hung or murdered terrible ways. Through all the chaos the Tahjai and the New Noble houses started making laws and reconstructing society, eventually becoming known as the Vindicated. (The Xulnorpate) 5 of the most power houses would rule, the lesser houses would attempt to gain strength and try to unseat one of the 5, whilst the Tahjai had more or less earned their immunity. They told the Teryns they could rule the Empire, all the Tahjai wanted was to focus on their studies and on those that possessed the gift of the All Mother. They promised they were always willing to offer assistance or advise on matters and that they would be preferred to be seen as one entity instead of different individuals. Sated on their newly promised power the Teryns took it without thought or question. They didn’t bother The Tahjai and soon enough started their expansion of their territory. The Common Man, thoroughly mislead and betrayed, attempted to rise up, but were beaten down harshly and told to serve the great Empire. Voices of dissent disappeared, public examples were made and compliance was rewarded occasionally to keep the people silent and obedient. People were forced to promise loyalty and service to the Empire. Becoming essentially slaves to the system… After a while unwavering loyalty was all that remained, no one being around to remember the crimes of the past or to be able to find and read the true history of the Empire instead of the ‘history that was taught’. And so it went for decades even a couple of centuries…until a new figure rose to power… When the Sorcerer King rose up and appeared he at first was a Hero of the Common Man earning their loyalty first, with his honour and courage and offering the Viemese someone to root for. Alarmed the Nobles at first weren’t sure what to make of him, but as he started to grow his own followers and promising them a more prosperous Future, some of the Nobles started switching sides. The Tahjai not being fools had already allied themselves with him as well and so the relatively corrupt Empire formed and altered into a motivated superpower hell bent on ‘Claiming their Right’. And so his need for conquest and subjugation began The man had a vision and a goal in mind for his Empire and soon enough they officially crowned him as their Supreme Ruler, their Emperor, though he never accepted that title and preferred to be known for his first title The Sorcerer King. He started with a few small nation states first to test their battle readiness, before taking on the bigger fish in the pond and those quickly fell, swallowed and assimilated by their hungry war-machine. Revendahl was next and its destruction would unify the rest of the Nations of Ith to band together and try to defeat this terrible evil. Ultimately they succeeded, though no one knows what really happened the day of the cataclysm, when the Heavens fell and created the world anew. Revendahl. Capital: Sensaridh (Mound of the All Mother) A smaller neighbor of Vaim, once independent and spiritual hub of the World. It was ruled by the Scholarly, Wanderers of Ith. The Druids of Revendahl ruled with relative ease, being the spiritual leaders for the common folk and gifting them opportunities to learn and study when the individuals sought them out and showed promise. Village elders and Guild leaders would come to them for advice, counsel and blessing. They healed the injured and sick when they could or would tend to them, bringing them into their sacred Palace known as Ezoiya (The Hearth). All that is gone now, with merely ruins remaining. Vaim sought to make an example of them, crushing them beneath their boot. Whilst the Druids and their followers held them off for a while in the end they were no match for the might that was thrown at them. Whilst the Rhevendahli were enslaved and forced into Vaim’s Empire, the indoctrination began, the Tahjai made sure to find every single magic user that would be born from this conquered people knowing that through these means they could maintain control and dominance. Illitiah. Capital: Hyfell A small group of islands that form the nation Illitiah, that helped by being part of the allegiance in the war against the Sorcerer King. Ruled over by Zeraphina Stormgard, the appointed leader of the ‘Floating City’ and the Lightning Garde. A stubborn old lady that helped her people find a place within the Broken world of Ith. Harnessing the power of Lightning they are able to move their nation, turning them into Sky-farers, wanderers and traders of the Skies. They are rather skilled techno-mages, combining both to their own advantages, such being the first to have electricity and were the ones capable of capturing lightning and harvesting water. They are also one of the more free spirited people of Ith. Leonasse. Capital: Sternecrans A nation of relative size, mysterious and not much known about them. It is ruled by someone called the Anchor. It is said they value the rule of Law, Faith and Order and that it is maintained by the Senechai. Others that know them either sing their praises or curse them all.