Conclaves of Terianis

Social Classes

  Terianis is a highly stratified society, consisting of three main social classes: the Luminaries ("egathistas"), Spire-Dwellers ("terianis"), and the Root-Dwellers ("radtianis").   The spire-dwellers - accounting for between five and ten percent of the total Teriani population - are the only true citizens of Terianis, and those who do not live within the spires are considered subjects with fewer rights. Citizenry is further restricted by the requirement for a citizen to have completed their formal education and apprenticeship within one of the magical colleges; in effect this means that only elves who are born and raised in Terianis, are of at least a hundred years of age, and have developed at least a modicum of magical talent, are considered true citizens. Aside from the non-adult children of citizens, no non-citizens are permitted into the spires without the express permission of the Lunarch. Attempting to breach this rule is liable to lead to the exile or execution of all interlopers and anyone who has aided them in entering the spire.   Whilst all spire-dwellers, by virtue of their education, have at least some skill in magic, most do not pursue the study of the arcane beyond this level; whilst their magical skills affording them a life of relative luxury without any great need for labour, relatively few choose to live a life of idleness and hedonism - at least, not for more than a few decades. Many choose to dedicate their lives to the study of some particular skill, craft, or branch of knowledge, and it is thus from the ranks of the spire-dwellers that the majority of highly-skilled magical artisans, academics, and warriors are drawn. Those who choose to specialise in the further study of magic might eventually be recongised as Luminaries - an honour which can only be bestowed by the consensus of their peers. Luminaries make up the ruling class of the spires, and it is from their ranks that the Lunarchs - the supreme autocrats of the spires - are drawn, along with all positions of significant power.   The root-dwellers make up the majority of the population of Terianis, dwelling either in the vicinity of the Spires or in scattered settlements throughout the forest. Those who dwell at the foot of the Spires tend to labour in the various industries required to support the spires in which the use of magic and enchanted constructs is either too impractical or too inefficient; this includes tending orchards and forest gardens, burning charcoal, extracting iron from bogland deposits, and the like. The product of their labours is inevitably remitted to the spires, in exchange for which they are granted protection, a ration of food, and the opportunity for the most gifted of their children to be educated in the magical colleges. Those in the outlying settlements tend to live in agrarian collectives - many of which would to outsiders be difficult to distinguish from Rathi societies, albeit rather more tightly regimented.   Whilst the majority of root-dwellers are elven, humans, dwarves, orcs, and halflings are tolerated, though considered second-class subjects and typically confined to their own enclaves. Half-elves are considered spiritual abominations by most Teriani and are shunned; Tieflings are typically seen as agents of the Hells, and are not welcome in Teriani lands. Goblinoids and gnomes are considered an uncivilised and dangerous force, and barred from all land within twelve miles of a spire, on pain of death. Other races are generally met with variable degrees of suspicion and curiosity.   Slavery is not a common phenomenon within Terianis; the spire-dwellers see it as unnecessary, and neither is it practiced by the root-dwelling Teriani. Whilst Lunarchs can impose a legal state of indenture on criminals, this is extremely rare in comparison to punishments such as exile. The trading of slaves is technically legal, though the markets are generally small as none of Terianis' neighbouring states make extensive use of slavery in the modern era.

The Conclaves of Terianis were founded approximately one-and-a-half thousand years before the rise of the Empire of Kataris by the Solar Council - who were at that time mortal - and their followers. From the original spire-city of Tir Bathagrion, the Teriani gradually expanded their territory over the following centuries; at the height of its power, prior to the rise of the Katari Empire, it is said that "Old Terianis" stretched from the Labyrinth of Byial in the West to the Plains of Akiron in the East, encompassing not only modern-day Terianis and Kespis, but also much of what is now Corlindale and Vaalus.   The Solar Council are said to have ascended to divinity around five hundred years before the rise of the Katari Empire, passing control over the mortal nation that they founded to a group of their followers who would become the Lunar Council. Tasked with interpreting the will of the Solar Council and transmitting their teachings to the world, the Lunar Council oversaw the development of the Conclaves to new heights of power; but even in those early days their rule was not universally popular. It was a matter of only a few short centuries before the first major challenge to their rule emerged, in the form of a rebellion among the root-dwellers against the Lunar Council (which was rumoured to have been stirred up by the Drow). After a brief but vicious civil war the rebellious factions were defeated and forced into exile, giving rise to the Rathi Elves.   A little over two hundred years later would come the "Shameful Wound" when the Conclaves found themselves in conflict with the nascent Katari Empire. The Lunar Council found their arcane power more than matched by that of the Basilisk Queens, whilst their military forces - though perhaps individually more skilled - were vastly outnumbered by the Katari legions. By the end of the second century AK the Conclaves had lost a great deal of their territory and had seen almost half of their population slain or enslaved by the Katari, leading to the Lunar Council reluctantly surrendering to Katari sovereignty as a tributary state. Such was the shame of this great defeat that it is said that the Solar Council decreed that the names of the spires lost to the Katari were to be stricken from history, and that the Conclaves would be barred from extending their reach beyond those shameful borders for a thousand years.   When the Katari Empire fell into chaos in 544AK, the Conclaves rose up and declared their independence, forging a temporary alliance with the emerging Kingdom of Ethkeran under the rule of the legendary King Giladd Silverbow in order to throw off the remnants of Katari rule. Following the assassination of King Giladd and the subsequent collapse of Ethkeran into a host of independent raths only a few decades later, the Teriani closed their borders and turned inward, entering an era known as the "Great Seclusion" - a four-hundred year period of isolation in which the nation closed its borders to the outside world until 973 AK. The end of the Great Seclusion was heralded by the military campaigns of Aldernord in Corlindale, and whilst the motives of the Lunar Council in ending the Seclusion are known only to them, it is commonly assumed that the desire to avoid a repeat of the Shameful Wound was a major factor in their deliberations. The eastern part of Corlindale became something of a bufferzone between the Alderni and the Teriani, and it is rumoured that during this time the Lunar Council provided magical and military aid to the Corlish towards this end.   The end of the Great Seclusion brought the Teriani back to the global stage for a period of time, and for a period of time the Lunar Council positioned Terianis as the great geopolitical rival of Aldernord, claiming that the Alderni - through their worship of the Daughters of Null - were in league with infernal powers. Some have claimed that the Lunar Council may have had a hand in the rise of the Heirs of Baltha, though most who have studied the origins of the Long War have concluded that at most the Teriani took advantage of the rising tide of Balthan resentment, rather than directly stoking it for their own ends. The opposition to the Alderni was not however universally popular among the Luminaries of Terianis, and in 1144 AK the Conspiracy of the Eclipse saw the second major civil war in Teriani history. The secret society known as the Eclipse Council launched a series of coordinated strikes against the Lunar Council in an attempt to seize power, assassinating several of the Lunarchs in the process; however they were unable to capitalise on their initial success and consolidate their power before the Lunar Council were able to reassert control over the situation. By 1145 AK the Eclipse Council had been forced out of the Spires that they had seized, and by the end of the decade most of their leaders were dead or gone into exile. A few pro-eclipsian militias remained active in the depths of the forests for several decades, with some on the Eastern border continuing their guerilla campaign against the Lunar Council - with the backing, so it is said, of the Vaali - until the Blight of 1203 AK.   Whilst the Lunar Council did gradually soften its attitude towards the Alderni over the decades following the Conspiracy of the Eclipse, the reprisals against suspected eclipsian supporters did little to inspire deeper loyalty to them; the process of centralisation of power to the Lunar Council which had begun with the end of the Great Seclusion began to accelerate, and the surviving Lunarchs openly used the justification of stability and security to crack down on dissent and eliminate their political rivals - regardless of whether they had any affiliation with the Eclipse Council or not. As the grip of the Lunar Council tightened over the nation, an almost inevitable upsurge in oppositon to their rule began to take form, primarily taking shape in the eastern spires of Tir Natros and Tir Pranos. This would come to a head in late 1259 AK when the High Mysteriarch of the Temple of the Solar Council, Laerothani Elakin, publically denounced the Lunarchs, claiming that for more than a century the Lunar Council had been systematically misrepresenting the directives of the Solar Council for their own benefit. Three days later, Laerothani Elakin was found dead in her chambers - having been repeatedly stabbed and her tongue cut out - leading to uproar and open rioting. Mere months later, Laerothani's followers deposed the Lunarch of Tir Natros, leading to the events of the Kespis Rebellion which would see the seccession of Tir Natros and Tir Pranos to form the Free Conclave of Kespis.   The Kespis Rebellion led to three decades of bitter civil war between the breakaway spires and the Lunar Council, ending only with the Salt Treaty of 1296AK, during which time Terianis once again closed its borders with the outside world. In the wake of the Salt Treaty, Kespis has rapidly modernised and thrown off many of what it characterises as "false traditions" that were placed in the way of following the true teachings of the Solar Council by generations of self-serving Lunarchs; meanwhile in Terianis, the Lunar Council has made some concessions to social reform - including the addition of two "Speakers for the Roots" as voting members on the Council, and increased rights of self-determination for the vassal-city of Khut Marot - but has otherwise gradually returned to an isolationist orthodoxy. Though the borders are not as tightly sealed as they were during the Great Seclusion, Terianis nontheless has returned to a state of national introspection, with only a handful of spires such as Tir Alipos retaining any great political interest in the outside world.

There is no standing army as such; however there are numerous warrior societies (often referred to as "guardians") among the Spire-Dwellers who act as a de facto military force. Additionally all Root-Dwellers are obliged to spend one day in five training in combat or a related discipline, acting as a population-level reserve force.   Strategic military doctrine revolves around using geomancy and other forms of magic, magical beasts, constructs, and undead, plus elite units of guardians, and popular resistance as a last-line of defence in depth.   As a matter of policy, Terianis does not seek to expand its borders - but does defend them ruthlessly.

The most common religious affiliation in Terianis is the teachings of the Solar Council. Other religions are tolerated among the Low Folk provided that they do not contradict the Solar Council; thus the teachings of the Monarchs of Ash, the reverence of the Wakeful Dead, and the worship of certain members of the Corlish Pantheon are all relatively common among the subject peoples of the spires.   The worship of many of the High Gods is strongly discouraged, particularly of the twelve Solar Archons who are strongly associated with the Divine Domains, due to the Solar Council teaching that these entities are usurpers. Their worship is not illegal, but is considered somewhat disloyal, and those who are known to venerate them are treated with suspicion. The Monadic and Movanic Archons, who represent elemental and para-elemental forces, are considered somewhat more legitimate, though the most orthodox viewpoint is that these are beings that one can bargain and negotiate with rather than ones that should be worshipped.   Unauthorised dealings with the forces of the Four Hells are considered major crimes in Terianis, and those who are found to be worshipping them almost always face exile or execution. Despite this, many suspect that infernalism is surprisingly common in Terianis, and there have long been rumours of cults to such entities as the "Laughing Assassin" and Mistress Spider existing among the elite. The worship of the Daughters of Null is considered a form of infernalism by the Lunar Council, much to the detrimental of Alderni-Teriani relations.   The Light of Kassin is considered a subversive cult, and is heavily proscribed, as is Qaswartism, though neither faith has ever had a significant number of adherents in Terianis.

In the modern era, Terianis does not officially maintain diplomatic contact with other nations, though some spire cites do have their own emissaries - varying from the forest wardens of Tir Lotheri (tasked both with patrolling the western border and with liaising with neighbouring settlements in Corlindale), and the various semi-official envoys of Tir Alipos. Beyond this, the interests of the Spires are further advanced by various traders - mostly non-Teriani - who are willing to provide information and deliver messages and goods for profit.