Human

“The Light made us one people; the land made us ten.”
— Common proverb across the Heartlands

Western Sphere — “The Sea Powers”

Cezoran

• Homeland: Cezorus — The Mana Isles.
• Culture: Naval, industrial, and fiercely scientific. The Cezorans view invention as destiny and Mana-Tech as proof that humanity has mastered the divine spark.
• Faith: Publicly devout followers of the Lifestar, though private belief tends toward pragmatism or atheistic determinism.
• Traits: Rational, adaptable, inventive, disciplined.
• Conflicts: Enduring espionage duels with Doroska; moral rivalry with Valyssia’s faith-based imperialism.
• Symbol: The Compass Star — representing discovery, precision, and control.

Skjoldaran

• Homeland: Skjoldar — The Northern Fjords.
• Culture: Hardy seafarers and clanfolk bound by oath and salt. Each fjord keeps its own rites; some honour the Lifestar, others ancestral spirits of storm and ice.
• Faith: Fragmented. The Church of the Lifestar holds weak sway; old sea-rites persist.
• Traits: Loyal, stoic, fatalistic, brave to recklessness.
• Conflicts: Seasonal raids and trade wars with Cezorus; fear of the creeping corruption from the Desolation’s northern winds.
• Symbol: The Spiral Helm — strength enduring against endless waves.

Neferkaran

• Homeland: Neferkara — The River Kingdom.
• Culture: Solar monarchies and monumental temple-cities built along a vast desert river. Art, astronomy, and theology intertwine.
• Faith: The Lifestar is worshiped as a solar deity, seen through the lens of cyclical rebirth and divine kingship.
• Traits: Proud, serene, ceremonious, and fatalistic.
• Conflicts: Border skirmishes with Oranyth; rivalry with Cezoran proselytisers.
• Symbol: The Sun Disc and Crook — rule through illumination and order.

Central Heartlands — “The Old Powers”

Valyssian

• Homeland: Valyssia — Imperial heartland east of the Desolation.
• Culture: Bureaucratic, proud, and inward-looking. Once the seat of enlightenment, now fearful of entropy and decline.
• Faith: Zealous adherents of the Church of the Lifestar; many of its High Ecclesiarchs hail from Valyssia.
• Traits: Cultured, ambitious, hierarchical, philosophical yet paranoid.
• Conflicts: Economic feud with Kastovia; wary respect for Cezorus.
• Symbol: The Twin Scepter — authority over faith and law.

Kastovian

• Homeland: Kastovia — The Guild Federation.
• Culture: Industrial city-states under guild councils. Pragmatism and commerce rule; ethics bend for efficiency.
• Faith: Nominally Lifestarist but largely secular; the Church’s influence bought rather than believed.
• Traits: Cynical, practical, industrious, shrewd.
• Conflicts: Constant trade rivalries with Valyssia; covert alliances with Doroska and Skjoldar mercenaries.
• Symbol: The Hammered Coin — profit as creed, progress as god.

Doroskan

• Homeland: Doroska — The Crossroads.
• Culture: Cosmopolitan traders, interpreters, and diplomats. Theirs is a nation of roads, markets, and mercantile neutrality.
• Faith: Eclectic; temples to the Lifestar stand beside shrines to local and imported spirits.
• Traits: Charismatic, adaptable, perceptive, opportunistic.
• Conflicts: Balances or exploits the ambitions of Cezorus and Kastovia; eyes Tzintava for future expansion.
• Symbol: The Golden Bridge — every road leads through Doroska.

Southern and Eastern Realms — “The Living Fringe”

Tzintavan

• Homeland: Tzintava — The Jungle Kingdoms.
• Culture: Descended from an ancient, vine-covered civilization. Their scholars preserve fragments of pre-Lifestar thought.
• Faith: Blends Lifestar iconography with animist jungle spirits and ancestor worship.
• Traits: Spiritual, wary, defiant, wise beyond measure.
• Conflicts: Exploited by Cezoran and Doroskan expeditions for relics and minerals.
• Symbol: The Serpent Orchid — beauty masking venom.

Sundaraali

• Homeland: Sundaraal — The River Empires.
• Culture: Refined and mercantile; cities rise along massive deltas fed by monsoons. Philosophy and trade are twin pursuits.
• Faith: Diverse but harmonious; Lifestar devotion mixes with local deities of flood and harvest.
• Traits: Diplomatic, patient, intellectual, sensuous.
• Conflicts: Staunch ally of Tzintava; balancing power between Doroska and Neferkara.
• Symbol: The Triple Tide — wealth, wisdom, and will.

Oranythi

• Homeland: Oranyth — The Eastern Wilds.
• Culture: Semi-nomadic clans scattered among floating ruins and shifting Mana-fields. Known for mystics and explorers.
• Faith: Syncretic blend of Lifestar worship and Verdant reverence.
• Traits: Curious, introspective, independent, elusive.
• Conflicts: Cultural tension with Neferkara; harried by Cezoran relic-hunters.
• Symbol: The Wandering Sigil — faith in movement, truth in mystery.

Kharadim

• Homeland: Kharados — The Mountain Kingdom.
• Culture: Insular and austere; monasteries carved into cliffs, echoing chants that harmonize with Leyline resonance.
• Faith: Orthodoxy veiled by hidden mysticism; some monasteries secretly guard forbidden relics of pre-Lifestar origin.
• Traits: Stoic, spiritual, ascetic, unyielding.
• Conflicts: Distrusted by both Cezorus and Valyssia; trades precious ores to maintain isolation.
• Symbol: The Silent Bell — enlightenment through endurance.