Broken Empire
A Diverse and Cosmopolitan Archipelago Spanning Much of the Gamma Quadrant
And the Lion Laid Down to Rest: A Brief History of the Juran Wars
The University of Halewijn
The Broken Empire is a large archipelago of islands spanning much of the Gamma Quadrant of Waking Materia, representing the upland remains of what was once a larger continent before the catastrophic Deluge. The two largest and most populous islands are Gondara to the west and The Lorent to the east. These continents are separated by a chasm called The Worldscar: there seem to have been several bridges over this chasm during the First Age, but only two remain, still controlled by the Jurans and their vassals in Nurin and Kallor. The regions on either side of the Worldscar are called the Pillarlands due to the ruins of the other Antediluvian bridges.
The Broken Empire is so-named because its numerous societies are newly liberated by the sudden and inexplicable retraction of The Great Juran Empire, under the command of its emperor Olcadan of Dhund, some seventy years ago. As a result, many parts of Gondara have been mired in territorial clashes over the following decades, though things have been calming as the victors begin to experience diminishing returns and the new provinces cautiously put their stakes down. This is especially true of the heavily-fractionated Midlands.
The demonym of The Lorent is "Lorentian". Its lingua franca is Low Juran. The demonym of Gondara is "Gondaran". Its lingua franca is Middish Common. On both continents, High Juran is still used in politics and scholarship, though in Gondara this practice is waning, with some calling for the Fauregandian dialect to be adopted due to Fauregand's centrality in pan-Gondaran politics.Geography
The Broken Empire is usually divided into three rough groups: the continent of Gondara, the continent of the Lorent, and the myriad peripheral islands surrounding both.
Gondara
Nations of the continent of Gondara are as follows. Most are further divided into municipal sections, usually called fiefs.
- Æthermark
- Allesans, The
- Ket
- Midlands, The (actually dozens of independent nations, though culturally similar)
- Oztroja
The Lorent
Nations of the continent of the Lorent are:
Peripheries
Nations peripheral to the two central continents include:
- Agåntyr, The Islands of; Coreward of Gondara
- Autumn Isles, The; Coreëast of Gondara
- Howling Fantods, The; far Voidward of the Lorent
- Nibelheim; far Voideast of the Lorent, east of the Howling Fantods
- Ilhalvalaut; Voideast of Gondara
- Rhosgobel; Voidward of Gondara
- Ten Thousand Islands, The; Coreward of the Lorent
- Zvaal, Voidwest of Gondara
The Heralds of Gondara
There is a small but growing movement that supports the unification of all Gondara, seeing the continent's fractured nature as a weakness to further invasions, whether from Jura or otherwise. They are known as the Heralds of Gondara. There are supporters of the Heralds across the continent, though they are organized mainly in the great trade city of Fauregand.Demographics
The greatest amount of humanoid biodiversity on Waking Materia may be found here, with surviving societies of Meranthic elves (enari, eladrin, drow), Meranthic humans, hobbits, arakh, ong and baraka located somewhere on its myriad islands.
The majority of the population on both Gondara and the Lorent is Meranthic (mixed human-elven), with some lineages of purer-blooded humans along The Islands of Agåntyr, Oztroja and Kallor. Basal elves or Ur-Mera are largely unheard of. The isolationist tribes of enari are restricted to the Corewestward Autumn Isles. The stilted swamp-towns and Revered Uplands of Rhosgobel are the largest hobbit civilization on Materia. The seminomadic Barghast Arakh tribes spend their seasonal cycles tracing gather-paths around the island of Zvaal: the third-largest island on the archipelago. Further Voideast from Zvaal are The Howling Fantods, ruled by the fierce and xenophobic baraka."Lost" Races
Dwarves were known to exist on the Lorent during the days of the Juran Empire: the architecturally wondrous Holy City of Calm was known to have been built with their help, under some mysterious agreement with Jura's God-Emperor, Olcadan of Dhund. However they have since disappered entirely. Rumours around where they went are popular conversation fare at pubs and universities alike.
Drow were also seen as a minority of tradesmen and contractors among the visiting dwarves during the days of the Juran Empire (though they rarely left the Holy City of Calm).
A small minority of (relatively) pureblooded drow remain on Ilhalvalaut, but the vast majority are half-eladrin or -human.
Maps
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The Broken Empire
And its myriad peripheries. Map represents much of Waking Materia's Gamma Quadrant.
A skywatcher of Zvaal.
An Ilautian Seer of Eventide.
A knight of Lough Amarant.
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