Blest Earldom of Vizenia

The Blest Earldom of Vizenia is a province of The Final Kingdom along its southeastern coast, home to the Kingdom's capital city of Throne, one of the seats of power for the Augurs of Finality, and is believed to be one of the longest-settled regions of Sinderlan. It is characterized by lush rolling fields in the lowlands of the coast giving way to thick hilly Fourth Growth forests inland. The River Besk flows along the south border; as it approaches Throne it is covered by the Great Besk River Raft, an immense log jam formed after the Starfall spanning nearly 200 square miles, which gives way at the Filtering Dam outside of Throne. The urban sprawl of Throne expands for tens of leagues beyond its official borders, its outskirts rivaling many Free Cities in population alone. It is ruled by the Grand Earl of of the Iris in the Fortress City of Brite Upon Iris, with each town and city administered by an Iral Doge.   City centers and towns beyond the Throne Sprawl are characterized by their comparatively small nature, being primarily religious centers of pilgrimage for the millions of faithful across the kingdom who revere the monarch and heed the guidance of the Augurs. Brite is situated amongst the Field of Flowering Souls, a sacred burial ground which acts as a place of pilgrimage for the faithful due to its religious signifcance and as a tourism site for others. Outside the cosmopolitan heart of Throne, the people of the region are particularly zealous in adherence to advice given by Augurs and in their love for the monarch, often holding no secondary faiths. Rural Vizenians are known to live simple agrarian lives, with strict periods of prayer and consultation with the Augurs. Even among other Kingdom citizens, Vizenians are known to make others somewhat uncomfortable with how dominant their faith is in their daily lives.  

Mythological Times

  Much of its early history before the Starfall has been lost to time, but it is believed to have been settled sometime between the 3rd and 2nd millennia BFC, making it possibly the first permanently-settled region of Central Sinderlan after the earliest ones in the far north. Its lands were once home to dense old-growth boreal forests punctuated by verdant groves, rivers, streams, and fertile lowlands along the unusually deep River Besk along its southern border. Ancient myths speak of powerful nature spirits in these forests which would whisk lost travelers away, never to be seen again.   Didacy scholars have little consensus on much of the earliest history of settlement, but there exists some agreement on broad strokes and key events gleaned through some surviving accounts and material evidence. The Great Spire of Throne was believed to have been discovered and settled by the First Augurs migrating south in the 3rd or 2nd millennium BFC after which followers flocked to their proclaimed monarch, while earliest settlements outside of Throne are believed to have come from Augurs and lay citizens of Throne exploring the inner lands. As the settlers spread, they brought their veneration of the Augurs' visions. While the majority of settled Sinderlan revered them, the people in the region were filled with a particular zeal, consulting the Augurs for the most mundane of insights. This led to a culture of near-blind obedience, especially when paired with the strength they gained from their faith in the monarch in Throne.   Less common legends speak of the settlement of Brite along the border between forests and grasslands, was dominated by great fields of blooming flowers. Its people developed a distinctly reverential culture around the flowers of the area, particularly that of the Sinderlanian Iris, which the Augurs would often use as a tea to bring on visions. Eventually, the ruler of Brite became known as the Earl of the Iris.   Sometime in the 1st millennium BFC, legend states that High Augur Vizen renounced his position and declared he was given a vision he was to guide the lands to prosperity in partnership with the mythical King of the Dual-Jeweled Crown and the Duke of Voron. His vision led him to believe the joint body would become The Final Kingdom that Perradin would ever see. Vizen crowned himself Earl of the Iris and assumed full jurisdiction over the region, naming it after himself, while the King of the Dual-Jeweled Crown was proclaimed by Vizen as the absolute ruler of Throne, Vizenia, and Voron; the first Monarch of Finality.   As the Kingdom expanded, Vizenia became a place of pilgrimage for the faithful. It is believed that many of the pilgrims would wander the wilds of Vizenia's forests in hopes of visions of the future, emerging with great confidence in their place in the Fabric of Fate. Some legends that the Great Mage Fedrona wandered these forests at one point in search of guidance before going on to found The Didacy.   By the alleged time period of The Wizening War and the beginning of the Era of the First Free City, the Kingdom that began in Vizenia had spread across nearly half of Sinderlan. At the foundation of The Didacy in the 13th century FFC, the Kingdom encompassed the majority of Sinderlan's landmass with Vizenia at its administrative and relgious heart.  

Starfall and Recovery

Being along the border with the Domain of The Didacy at the time of the Starfall in 1507 FFC, Vizenia was amongst the most heavily devastated, resulting in the leveling of 100% of the region's forests and an event known as the Clogging of the Besk. The total destruction resulted in mass starvation and mass exoduses from the ruination, leaving only the most faithful to remain. With the Ascension of The Queen of Reborn Doctrine, the people of Vizenia were filled with zeal to bring order to the Kingdom, leading to roughly 75% of the population becoming members of the Queen's Bulwark. For the next century, the Kingdom was aggressively stabilized and the Abyssal Reach was purged.   In the aftermath, remnants of The Didacy allied with disillusioned locals along the border of the newly-formed Stargash Crater to resist the Queen's aggressive form of governance and bring stability through the restoration of biomes left destroyed in what became known as the Project Cobalt Sky. The faithful of Vizenia attempted to resist the group, but were eventually dissuaded when several Augurs encouraged their actions. This brought the Augurs into conflict with the Monarch for the first time in history, leading to several bloody border clashes and eventual outright Vizenian civil war as the population which was enlisted in the Bulwark clashed with civilians and expatriates.   With The Queen of Reborn Doctrine's death in 1631, the internal religious conflict of Augur faithful with the Throne ended. The newly-crowned Queen of Splints became an adamant supporter of the Project and in the restoration of trust in the care of the Monarchs. Across the ruined fields outside Brite and Throne, the Project reseeded forests and essential crops, magically resistant to the severe environmental damage. As the Project worked for decades, it eventually bore fruit in the 17th century with the first regrowth of much of Vizenia's forests and building a massive dam to filter the now-heavily polluted waters of the River Besk as they arrived at Throne. The enormous mass of debris in the River Besk collected in what became known as the Great Besk River Raft, which the Project established multiple floating farms upon. The advancements from the Project were then disseminated across the known world, leading to the final restoration of Perradin's biomes, an event known to history, legend, and myth as the Cobalt Spring.  

Ancient to Modern History

After the Cobalt Spring, Vizenia began to heal culturally from its own internal strife. Faith gradually was restored in the primacy of the Monarch in Throne and the faith in the Augurs was greatly magnified due to their involvement in the Project's success. The fields outside Brite became a religious site due to its involvement in the success of the Cobalt Spring. Across the centuries, the people of Vizenia came to revere the land's nature as a triumph of their faith in the Augurs and of the Throne, and dedicating themselves to its protection. Druids and Rangers became a common sight amongst the regrowing wilderness. The regions largely remain uninvolved in most political affairs with other Duchies, instead acting as a religious hub for all Kingdom citizens who keep the faith in the Monarch and the Augurs.   With the eventual collapse of Didacy influence in the South and the establishment of the First Didacian Consulate in 3434, Vizenia's southern border was opened with the Violet Sky Treaty. This led to an economic boom in Throne and a dramatic increase in the quality of life for rural citizens across Vizenia with the influx of previously-guarded Didacy magicks and technology. After the establishment of the Luminous Sea Express, which would later become the Teleportation Commission, pilgrimages to the iris fields of Vizenia and to the metropolis of Throne became easier than ever for Kingdom citizens. The population of Throne and Brite increased by nearly 800% by the end of the 36th century, and requests from across the kingdom for burial in the Field of Flowering Souls outpaced available plots.   The conflicts with external forces and between other Duchies often exempt Vizenia, as it is home to the holy capital of Throne and host to the Monarch's Bulwark. The Wine Wars, Quake War, Dragon Egg Crisis, Vint Uprising, and various internal conflicts all avoided the territory. Vizenia only involved itself when a conflict was deemed to have run its course, deploying the Bulwark as a final word. As a result, Vizenia was often sought as a neutral party for mediation or as an essential ally to prevent conflict altogether.   Culturally, the region is primarily known for its religious and political significance, as well as its natural beauty. In the 86th century, in an effort to bolster Kingdom culture, the Monarch's Musical Academy of Vizenia was founded. The Academy, almost overnight, became a cultural touchstone and alma mater to musical talents such as Hapu Korlan, Benjamin Cardinalheim, Keezel, and Lapirnicus the Brave. It also hosts the Vizenian Chorus of Crows, a quasi-religious choir that is named for the Vizenian Crow, which grazes the Iris fields.   Today, the local culture remains as it has for millennia: focused on the maintenance of nature and reverence to the Throne and Augury. The city of Throne is a center for culture, but its surrounding lands are deemed sacred ground. Vizenians are reverential to any Warforged who occasionally cross their borders due to their involvement in the Cobalt Spring, but maintain a superstition that interaction may alter their place in the Fabric of Fate. This results in a contradictory attitude of kind deference and active avoidance.