The Hegemony of Mistoria

Introduction

The Hegemony of Mistoria is a powerful and prosperous nation in the world of Haven, serving as the primary setting for The Sentinels: Night Mother and all the author's Pathfinder campaigns. For over 800 years, it has been the central heartland connecting the world's major continents, making it a vital hub for trade, culture, and arcane innovation. The Hegemony was founded over 800 years ago in the aftermath of a devastating conflict. The lands were liberated from a tyrannical horde of Aboleth thralls by the crusading forces of the hero Ovylia Victrix. The end of this war was marked by a pivotal event known as the Heavenfall, where the Celestial Watch intervened to aid Victrix's forces. The Hegemony is a union of seven semi-autonomous provinces known as Commanderies. As mandated by an original pact, each commandery is free to govern itself and develop its own unique specialties, so long as it abides by the laws and pays tithes to the greater Hegemony government, the Sovereign Conclave.

Despite its long history of stability, the delicate balance between the commanderies now "stands on a knife's edge." The nation's immense wealth and power have made it a target for enemies and conspiracies. Internal tensions are rising due to disparities between the provinces, and Mistoria faces a number of external threats, including a potential resurgence of the Aboleths from the north.

Ovylia's Crusade and the Birth of a Nation

More than 800 years ago, the lands that now comprise the Hegemony were a desolate and scarred wilderness ravaged by the Aboleths and a horde of thralls under their enslavement. These ancient and sinister creatures had driven the people away while using their powers to create twisted structures that would transform the country into a blighted swamp and amplify their psychic abilities to mind-control their victims en masse. The hope of reclaiming the lost lands seemed fleeting until a visionary leader emerged decades later: Ovylia Victrix.

A warrior and stateswoman of unparalleled charisma and strength, her intellect was as keen as her sword and her resolve was unyielding. With eloquence and pragmatism, she persuaded the Western lords and descendants of refugees to put aside their differences and forged an alliance that was both improbable and necessary. In uniting these disparate peoples, she undertook a crusade of monumental ambition—to reclaim the lands blighted by Aboleth tyranny.

Years of arduous struggle ensued as the Aboleths, with all their guile and cruelty, resisted the coalition's advance. Yet, through battles hard-fought and victories dearly won, Ovylia led her people ever onward, her every triumph building a sense of shared purpose. As she forged ahead and liberated more territory, she also re-established relations with civilized nations that had bordered the realm. With the reinforced strength of newfound allies, the crusaders drove the Aboleths to their final refuge in what is eastern Ulgartha, where the enemy, driven to desperation, committed an act of unspeakable horror: they summoned forth Demons to their aid.

The battle that followed was both ferocious and tragic and amid the chaos, Ovylia herself fell. Her noble life was extinguished in the conflagration of the enemy's final stand and it is said that her death struck a blow to the hearts of her followers. Yet rather than extinguishing their hope, it enkindled an inferno of defiance and zeal. The crusaders fanatically pressed on despite their numbers drastically dwindling and their losses growing more devastating. In their love and respect for Victrix, they swore they would annihilate the enemies even if it came down to the last man or woman.

At this critical juncture, the heavens, moved by the magnitude of their struggle, opened wide and angels of the Celestial Guard descended. These radiant beings with swords of light and voices of thunder smote both Demon and Aboleth alike and drove the last vestiges of evil from the land.

Before departing, the angels blessed the survivors, bestowing upon them the charge to rebuild the shattered land and safeguard its future. The newly liberated people, inspired by the memory of Orvyla Victrix and the divine intervention they had witnessed, vowed to honor their fallen leader's vision .Thus was born the Hegemony of Mistoria, a nation forged in the crucible of suffering, sanctified by heavenly grace, and bound together by the memory of a woman whose strength and sacrifice transcended the bounds of mortality. Even now, her name is spoken with reverence, her legacy an enduring reminder of what unity and courage may accomplish when combined with steadfast determination. Ovylia Victrix remains not merely a figure of history, but a beacon of hope, shining ever bright across the generations.

Thus, the Hegemony of Mistoria was born—a union forged in the crucible of war and consecrated by divine blessing.

Commanderies of the Hegemony

After the end of the great war against the Aboleths, the surviving leaders of the crusade chose to lead their people to different corners of the country to establish and safeguard the different regions of the nation. The colonies would eventually grow to form the seven commanderies listed below.

Ulgartha
As the spiritual and governmental heart of the Hegemony, the Commandery of Ulgartha is a theocracy where faith in the Celestial Founders is the law of the land. Ruled from the holy capital of Ovyliax, it provides the nation with both its sustenance and its traditionalist, martial leadership under Hegemon Aelius Victrix.

Edenvalia
A realm of elegant, crystalline architecture and the undisputed master of magitech. Its innovations in spell gems revolutionized daily life across Mistoria, though its political stability is now uncertain under a young queen guided by an ambitious High Councilor.

Parsano
A formidable mercantile confederation of city-states, bound not by a crown but by a shared, relentless culture of hypercapitalism. Lacking a central ruler, its council of governors is dominated by the economic might of its wealthiest cities, making profit the only true measure of political power.

Doli
The green, breathing lungs of the Hegemony, a land of nomadic tribes who live in harmony with the natural world. Its people are the realm's foremost conservationists and druids, protecting the land's balance and guarding their ultimate refuge, the living tree bastion of Aelinpaar.

Kogheim
Once a proud bastion against the Aboleths, the land is now a blighted wasteland, a husk of its former glory whose cities are slowly being reclaimed by nature. Despite its decay, a morbid resilience persists in its capital of Sebek, where a Lich Lord has raised the dead to serve the living, turning the dying city into a grim tourist attraction.

Nixion
Its once-great subterranean industrial society of steam and gunpowder shattered by a demonic invasion. Now a paranoid and militant state under absolute martial law, its people have developed a deep-seated arcanophobia, stubbornly refusing outside aid as they fight their lonely war from mountain settlements and skyforts.

Langdra
The Hegemony's great treasury, a realm where ancient dragons and sophonts coexist, with the dragons serving as the undisputed masters of finance. Beyond being the nation's bankers, their eldest and wisest are called upon to act as the ultimate arbiters of justice, casting the deciding vote to settle disputes or even to choose the Hegemon.

Structure of Governance

The governance of Mistoria flows directly from the perceived will of the Celestial Founders. The laws are framed as interpretations of the Their virtues: justice is an extension of Tyrane, the General; order and administration are manifestations of Xalin, the Administrator; and the pursuit of knowledge and innovation is a holy duty to Setin, the Intellect.

From the elected capital of Orvyliax, the Hegemony is led by the Hegemon, a supreme ruler elected every decade by the Concord of Six, a council of each of the commandery leaders not including Langdra.

Since the foundation of the country, the Hegemon has acted as the head of state both domestically and internationally. They act as the chief executive who enforces policy, oversees administration, mediates between states, and is the supreme military commander. Their role requires a delicate balance of strength, diplomacy, and vision as well as the ability to ensure the commanderies remain unified under one banner. While each province is free to govern as they best see fit, all matters regarding the overall Hegemony is relegated to the Sovereign Conclave to which the Hegemon administers.

Meanwhile, the Concord's primary duty is to convene every 10 years to elect a Hegemon with each commandery represented equally under one vote per delegation. As representatives of their state, they also advise the supreme leader on matters to be aware of between each region while assisting in coordinating efforts during crises. Each commandery is welcome to either send a representative or defer to their acting governor. Additionally, should the Concord of Six find the Hegemon wanting and unwilling or unable to enact their duties, they may call a vote of no confidence to remove them during their term and trigger a new election. Should a tie of votes occur between the six, the eldest dragon of Langdra may be called upon to cast the deciding one.

The current Hegemon is Aelius Victrix, descendant of Ovylia Victrix. Before elected to rule the entire nation, he was the chosen Exemplar and governor of Ulgartha and a man who embodied all three pillars of the Celestial Founders. Noble, dutiful, pragmatic, and brilliant, Victrix is a statesman who's calculating mind constantly works towards the most logical and efficient solution to the Hegemony's issues. Not only is he a master in administration, Victrix also possesses great skill in combat and strategic warfare and that is almost unparalleled. Should he be called to raise his warhammer against the Hegemony's enemies, he can be seen at the head of the vanguard atop of his battle lion, Cato. Despite these factors that many would consider to embody an effective ruler, he constantly is politically under siege by the many who grow more unsatisfied by the constant turmoil that threaten the nation from within and without.

Mistoria Today and its Widening Cracks

On the surface, the Hegemony appears stable. It has an 800-year history of relative peace, a robust economic system anchored by magical advancements and a well established system of governance. However, this stability is a gilded facade, and the nation is currently facing a perfect storm of internal and external crises that are pushing it towards a tipping point. The seven souls of the Hegemony are no longer in harmony. with several commanderies are becoming liabilities rather than assets, creating deep internal fractures. At the moment, the Hegemony of Mistoria is in a state of quiet crisis. The centuries old pact that binds the commanderies is being tested by internal decay, political instability, and ideological division. Simultaneously, it must fend off major external threats while grappling with the knowledge that its most sacred institutions also have been breached. Mistoria is not yet collapsing, but the cracks in its foundation are rapidly spreading, and it is standing on the precipice of a new, far more dangerous and uncertain era.