Geopolitics of Third Age Materia
Author's Note: For Materia in The First Age—prior to The Deluge and during the height of its extraplanar colonization—refer to the main article: The Geopolitics of First Age Materia.
All articles contained herein refer to Waking Materia in its Third Age, which is represented by four major changes:
- A general calming of international politics after the chaos and territorial warfare of the Second or "Lost" Age in the wake of the planar catastrophe known as The Deluge.
- While the Veil between Waking Materia and its surreal mirror plane the Duskscape was impassable during the Second Age, the modern era represents a weakening of the Veil and a renewed interaction between the waking world and the Dream Time (which includes the dangers of Duskscape creatures like demons, fae and chimerae). There is also a renewed interest in the worship of the Duskscape Regents, the gods of the Umbral civilizations (and some very ancient Material ones). Black magicks like necromancy, oneiromancy, shadowmancy—described in First Age texts but impossible to perform in the Second—are beginning to work again.
- A slow recession of the Sunken Expanse, the massive ocean covering the centre of Materia after the Deluge drowned most of the plane in demon-infested brine. As the waters recede to reveal new territory and old ruins, there is also an explosion of exploration, colonization and tomb-raiding.
- The Expanse's recession has also resulted in easier nautical travel routes through the monster-infested oceans, with explorers meeting people of other continents for the first time in several centuries. (To be clear, such travel is still extremely dangerous, but can be immensely lucrative for those who are bold enough.)
Leona Zelv, Archon of the Northern Sky and a member of the ruling Conciliat Panharmonica in Jura. Very little is known about the various Orders making up the Conciliat, but the Northern Sky seems to revolve around justice and criminal apprehension.
Banner: (Left to Right) 1. A Kallorian knight. 2. Setsu Sanjurō, father of Setsu Ashikaga, current Shōgun of the Maraian Commonwealth. 3. A village elder of Ilhalvalaut.
Type
Political, International
Comments