The Nagran Empire is, in name, the last survivor of the Era of Empires. The original Empire grew out of the Orthnaran penal colony of Ondash, where the Ice
Giants held rebellious Mortals captive beneath the snow and ice of
Nagrand. Although the masters of this new empire grew wealthy and powerful, the society remained reliant on slaves, many seized through trade or raid from
Boriya,
Erask and
Eldanar. These routes relied on support from the ports of Anoke and Carn in
Breis, and the destruction of these harbours by the
Gantua began the death spiral of Nagran well ahead of the other Empires. In the struggle to adapt to its more isolated economy, many of the outer settlements were abandoned, and their tunnel highways left in a state of disrepair, if not outright collapse.
Cities of Nagran
The imperial capital is still Nagara, at the heart of the continent. Known as the City of Facets, Nagara is built in a hollow, carved from the body of the central glacial shield. The ice above is carved into a geodesic dome whose panels catch and refract every scrap of sunlight, bathing the city in irridescent, ever-shifting illumination with neither night nor day. It is the first city of the Nagara and home to the ruling Anaghil Dynasty.
The fortified port of Garos juts from the face of the glacier, its great wall crested by adamantine blades angled to cut or deflect it ice that presses down on them. Once the centre of slave trading and raiding into southern Erask, Garos is also the military centre of the Empire.
Slaving activities to Boriya were managed from Garos' sister port on the far side of the glacier, Darhis. Most of Darhis lies in a vast, domed cavern cut into the ice and diligently maintained by the Imperial Corps of Ice Cutters. The Corps also maintain the Temple of Jahr the Frostforger, a stunning edifice of ice that surpasses the Temple of Nagath of the Rainbow Eyes as the spiritual centre of the Empire.
Scintis is the last of the great ice mines, source of the
Frost Gems on which the wealth of Nagran was founded. The City of Frozen Stars was once a city of slaves ruled by a military garrison, but has long-since seen the rise of a government of former slaves to oversee the current 'indentured workforce'.
Ondash, the original prison camp, became the first city of the Empire, but was supplanted over time by the slave ports and the capital. It is preserved for its historical significance by a mixed government of the Aean
Sympatic Lineages.
Of the dead and abandoned cities of the Empire, Arven has a special place. While most died a slow death as their populations withdrew to larger settlements, Arven was cut off by the collapse of the tunnel to Nagara. By the time the way was reopened, the populace were all dead. Now, Arven is considered haunted, and the highway guarded against periodic attacks by a legion of the undead.
Lineages of Nagran
- The Dalahir, or Inheritors, are the de jure rulers of the Empire, forming the aristocratic political elite, formed of Giant-Kin and Giantings. The Dalahir population is focused in Nagara, where the magnen of the Anaghil Dynasty form the Imperial executive.
- The Uru'os, or Bone Orcs, are descended from a force of slave-soldiers who were once the military elite of the Empire. They still control the military hub of Garos.
- The Isahir, or Iceborn, are a group of ice Dragonborn. Descended from prisoners of war, they took up a spiritual role in the Empire and now control Darhis and its temples, along with the Corps of Icecutters.
- The Isadas, or Icebound, is a collective term for the descendants of the slave labour forces of the Empire at its height. Although originally a derogatory term, the sheer numbers of the Isadas now make them an important social group, especially in Scintis.
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