Editing Gloria-Etalia (section)

== Midland ==
=== Ruk ===
Races: 60% Human, 30% Lizardfolk, 10% Assorted Others 
Government: Dictatorship, with the successor being chosen by the current dictator
Capital: Ruk

While the war is raging between the vampires and necroswampers, entire villages are destroyed by the battling forces. From the rubble, a charismatic lizardfolk named Ssaal rises up, gathering refugees from destroyed villages and leading them North. They eventually stop at the lake in the Northern Drache Swamps, Lake Srrezi, and they form a settlement named Ruk. It is composed primarily of humans, with humans being about 60% of the population, but lizardfolk make up another 30% and act as the main element of the militia and so are a dominant minority. The remaining 10% come from a hodgepodge of races. The city is currently held together mainly by the charisma of Ssaal, though there is tension between lizardfolk and humans. The humans believe that they should hold more power because they make up a majority, and the lizardfolk believe that they deserve more power because they keep the city safe. The city is mostly a dictatorship, but a benevolent one. Ruk isn't known by most of the world due to it being so deep in the swamp and so young, but it has begun trying to send diplomatic envoys to Seem.

=== Zephyr Mountains ===
=== Thoughtcrafters Commune ===
The Zephyr Mountains were the original home of Hobgoblins, famed as Roc Riders.
Caught up in the original expansion of Qi-Fu, their discipline was quickly seen as a tool for conquest, and embodied as a slave soldier.
As a slave soldier, they were inherently considered of lower value than the Qi-Fu, and often thrown into desperate assaults or last stands.
as the hobgoblins began to grow wise with these tactics, rebellion and desertion began to ferment - their skill at arms and nature as veterans of a dozen combatants along with their determination meant that success was often as common as failure, and as a result, the Qi-Fu, realising the risk with resurgent uruzataar khans decided to shower the slave legions with potent gifts and even political power.
the hobgoblins are currently deciding their own internal divide - those who stay see all deserters as traitors to the people who giving them a life of luxury, while those who desert have a choice - join the khans, or flee further.
the "Thoughtcrafters Commune" is a hidden plateau in the Zephyr Mountains - shielded from basic attempts at scrying, the routes to the entrances guarded by both disguise, mind-manipulation, natural dangers and more conventional military watchtowers as a final line of defense. It is spoken about in terms of veneration among the deserter slaves, being seen as a perfect place where they can be free.
The leadership of the commune is a maternal druidic/shamanistic circle, who are said to be literally able to craft their dreams into physical objects, so that none can want, and none can need.
Few hobgoblins speak of this to the outsiders, as this was originally formed from the survivors of the original qi-fu expansion but it's thought that some among the qi-fu and khanate may have told of tales of this perfect land to their superiors in order to gain additional favour, and so preparations for war are being made…
The signature battle abilities of the thought crafters are riding beasts, carrying hobgoblins into battle in howdah and saddle, and calling upon the natural magics of the zephyr mountains to empower their huge storms, with winds capable of knocking a Roc out of the sky. Lightning is rarely used as it is seen as inefficient for the amount of effort that needs to be put in summoning it.

=== Grand Duchy of Komjátina ===
===== History =====
======The Beginning======

======The Rise of the Noble Vampires======
    
======The Dusken War======

======Komjátinan’s Pact======
This was the agreement that brought the dusken war to and end. To end the brutal and bloody conflict that had ravaged the nation for over a generation the mortal races bent the knee once again to the vampire nobles. The vampire houses would never again kill Komjátinan subjects, and would instead convert a portion of taxes owed to be not paid in food or coin, but in blood to feed. The Houses would also hunt any creature that threatened their subjects, be it the ever more common threat of werewolves, rogue vampires, forgien threats, or other creatures. They also swore to the other houses that the days of open infighting were over, and that they would instead all rule equally on a council. This day is called Verpacti, and is celebrated by both mortals and vampires.

======The Council======

======Population======
Because of the council’s nationwide population surveys, the racial mix of Komjátina is well documented. It is reported to be around 80% human, 10% drow, 5% Hobgoblin, and 5% Other. Komjátina is also home to a sizable amount of unholy monstrosities. Werewolves, ghouls, vampires, and many more creatures of the night can be found in Komjátina. Because there is no sunlight, most of the races that live here, including humans, have developed a limited range night vision. They can see a lot better in the dark, at the drawback of not being able to see well at all in the sunlight.

===== Culture =====
====== Mortal Culture ======
Because of the monstrous threats that are commonplace in Komjátina, the populace is extremely well armed and knowledgeable. Every man, woman, and child carries a silver weapon on them, and every house is reinforced and can be easily barricaded. By dealing with monstrous threats all of their lives they know exactly how to kill them. 

When a mortal dies, they are buried in what is called a morugrădină (moru-grə-dinə). A small and fortified field where the body is then used to grow a special type saprophytic plant called gurau. This is then distilled into a tasty and slightly hallucinogenic beer that is drunk on days of celebration and tragedy.

Komjátina has many days of celebration that are practiced by both mortals and vampires. The first day of summer is called Luminăzi (lu-minəzi), and is practiced by catching fireflies during the day and releasing them into a giant globe made of cloth. Everybody then brings out the Gurau and enjoys the light show. The next big celebration is three months and 9 days after the summer solstice and is called Verpacti. Verpacti is the day Komjátinan’s Pact was agreed upon, and it is celebrated by every able bodied mortal and vampire going out into the woods and hunting monsters. Suspected weres are rounded up and are tested with silver, and if any are found they are killed, brought to the village square and are hung. Several watchguards are then posted who then ambush any carrion eaters that come for their meal. This has evolved into a competition between the vampires and the mortal races, and they compete to see who can find and kill the most weres. The last notable festival is hosted two months and 7 days after the winter solstice and is called Balul Mascat. It is hosted by the local baron and baroness, who disguise themselves as a mortal as best they can and invite every subject under their rule to enjoy an evening at their manor. They then mingle, and everybody tries to guess who the vampire is. Someone can accuse somebody of being the vampire, but if they are wrong they are pelted with rocks and are chased out of the manor. If they are right however they recieve a tidy sum of wealth and get to chase the vampire out into the woods and everybody gets to spend the night in the manor. At midnight, the vampire reveals themselves and can choose one mortal to enjoy themselves with. They cannot kill them, but the vampire can ask them the next day if they want to become their thrall. This only happens when the vampire is sure that they enjoy the persons company to the point of having them stick around for literally forever. 

====== Vampire Culture ======
Because vampires have a natural affinity with wolves, houses breed them for sport and entertainment. Instead of turning wolves into dogs however they try to get them bigger and more nastier. It is a status symbol, as having a dire wolf would mean you were rich and powerful enough to feed your dog a lot of meat in a land with not a lot of excess game, and that your house has been around long enough to produce such a fine creature.

===== Government =====
Komjátina is a Dictatorial Republic run by a council of vampire counts and countesses. The council is jointly run by Duke Flaviu Komjátina and Duchess Anișoara Komjátina. In reality they are the queen and king and have been for hundreds of years but have not abdicated their titles due to an old law stating that the nation would be run by a council with no king or queen. Sessions are most of the time held in the nation’s capital Koborbirku. However sessions are held in other count’s castles and manors to keep everyone busy. They have full power over the council, and use it to keep a tight leash over the other members. The house of Komjátina keeps the other members busy scheming amongst themselves and showing off to their fellow Counts. Due to the Komjátina’s strict rule these conflicts never result in bloodshed or civil wars, and the Counts only moderately tax their subjects to show off, instead of bleeding them dry. Duke and Duchess Komjátina’s main goal as head of the council is to maintain the status quo and to keep busy for eternity.

===== The Houses =====
The nation is run by several noble vampiric houses. Each house has their own rich lineage and history, but none is as old or noble as the house of Komjátina. 

===== The House of Komjátina =====
[[File:Duke Flaviu Komjátina.jpg|thumb|Duke Flaviu Komjátina]]
[[File:Duchess Anișoara Komjátina.jpg|thumb|Duchess Anișoara Komjátina]]
Due to their extremely long lived life, Duke Flaviu Komjátina and Duchess Anișoara Komjátina find mortals to be more a source of entertainment and less of food. Due to this and the rational fear of a bloody revolt, they see more value in keeping the human population alive then dead, and impose this will on the council.

===== Ecology =====
Due to the workings of a powerful and ancient spell, the Grand Duchy has been plunged into eternal darkness. The sun cannot ever shine on the land, and the moon and stars are the only source of natural light. The sky is normally the same light level as dusk, but can variate depending on the moon and the weather. Before the spell the nation was commonly overcast and cloudy, and traces of this can still be seen along the edges of the border. The day and night cycles are still followed by both mortals and vampires, with everyone getting up in the day and sleeping at night. This is because the moon and the sky is a little brighter in the daytime. 

Because there is no sun, the ecosystem is rather unique. Plants that get nutrients to grow in three ways. The first is relying on nutrients in the soil. The second is the production of energy from the moon’s rays. The third way is growing on decomposing animal matter (aka. Saprophytic plants). Instead of leaves, plants bloom flowers to soak up the moon’s rays. They can be any color, but are mostly black or white. These flowers follow the lunar cycle. Going into a micro hibernation when the moon is empty and blooming when the moon is full. Regular trees can also grow, but use flowers to gather energy instead of leaves. 

The full moon becomes very important in Komjátina. The days leading up to it are used for foraging and harvesting, as edible plants can be seen with their flowers in bloom and determined to be ready to harvest or not. The full moon itself brings out werewolves and other monsters, and the death of local fauna stemming from that would allow for a lot of fresh carcasses for saprophytic plants to use to grow. The days after the full moon would be used to plant new crops.
In the spring and summer, humans would harvest fruit and plants and store up for autumn and winter, where stores would be tapped into and game would be hunted as the soil replenishes its nutrients.
The local wildlife mostly consists of small burrowing animals because there is no grass for grazing animals and not enough food for big animals. There would be small birds that eat fruit and bugs, and fish that would eat moon plankton. Carrion eaters as well would also be present. Most of the carnivores are tiny, like foxes, small wolves, racoons, and other tiny creatures. These creatures are small because there is not a lot of big creatures to hunt.

=== Cannibal Cults ===
The cannibal cults first started eating people as a reaction to the growing power of the necromancers, after all an eaten body cannot be raised. They eat the undead to stop them from being re-raised and reused by the necroswampers even when defeated. They also eat the undead for nourishment, as they live where almost nothing can grow.

Their capitol is Dawns Gate, and is built inside a crater of a meteor that crashed there around the age of dawn. The Cannibal Cultists worship the rock as a part of Eiph's flesh that was much closer to his soul when it was still in the ground.

====Religion====
The Cannibal Cultists believe that everything used to be one god, named Eiph. There used to be no sun, or stars, or any life except for Eiph. Eiph was the world, and the world was his skin. There was nothing but his skin on the land, which was the rock. Everything that is in the land and the sky now was deep inside Eiph. Epih, after pondering his existence for countless ages, Eiph realised that his purporse in life was to kill himself. To do this, he first cut his skin with his many hands. From those cuts his blue blood came forth, and it flowed and becamse the ocean. While bleedin out, Eiph relaised that he would engulf his skin in blood if he did not do something. So he took his many hands and from his back gourged out a great chunk of his flesh. He pushed his flesh up into the sky, so that his blood would not engulf it. This became the land. The rivers are his blood that leaked out through his flesh, and the mountians are his fingers that elevated the land. After bleeding until all of his blood ran out of his body, he realised that he could not die until his soul was removed from its resting place, the khret. Through the flesh that he tore away from his body, he dug deeper into the center of his self, and all of the flesh from his body that he removed to reach his soul he flung from his being, and it became the moon. After clearing a path, Eiph reached inside to the deepest part of himself, and brought out his soul. In a final effort to die he grabbed his soul with his many hands and flung it from his body. His soul was flung far from his body, and became the sun. At long last Eiph did die.

However, when he flung his soul away, he pireced it with his many hands. Instead of lying dormant in the sky, the sun started to bleed. Fragments of Eiph soul flew away, and some went off into space to create stars. Others touched the earth that Eiph made. The ground, knowing the pieces of soul to belong to itself, tried to readsorb it. But it was not the complete soul of Eiph, and so the land could not fully intergrate it into itself. However the fragment of Eiph's soul did find a home in the dirt. It nestled into the ground, and from it came the first humans. These humans, who had no way to sustain themselves, quickly died, and the fragment of Eiph's soul that they housed borrowed deeper into the earth, and gave life to the first animals and plants. They have only the smallest fragment of Eiph's soul however, and because of that cannot live or think like a human or other mortal.

Soon enough however more fragments of his soul nestled into the earth, and from it sprouted not only humans, but the other races as well. Thus, the world as we know it was created.

The Cultists believe that the a mortal body is a Khret for Eiph's soul. By living, a person slowly burns out the soul fragment until they die. This process is stalled by eating food, which containts the tinyist bit of Eiph's soul. However, this only forstalls a persons inevitable death. Each body has a fragment of Eiph's soul, and by eating a body, you also consume the soul fragment that they carry.

When alive, the human inprints themself upon the soul fragment, and if they are eaten and the soul is transferred, bits and pieces of the dead mortals survive in the new body. They are no longer alive, but the eater can remember, very faintly, their life. The Cultists believe that the soul rests on in the body of those who ate them, and so it has become pratice to eat family members as a way of rememberance and connection. When a person who has eaten many people die however, only their soul and a little extra gets transferred when the body is eaten. The remaining soul fragments decompose with the body into the earth. 

By eating a person you consume their soul fragment, and by doing so extend your own life. The heads of the cult do this to extend their own life far past normal human standards. These cult leaders are usually elders who get to eat the majority of a family member when they die. Due to their age and the knowledge of many lives that they carry, these elders are viewed as wise men and women who help lead the cult. 

When one has many souls inside of them, they start to exibit traits of Eiph's power. This develops into magical abilities, from casting to superhuman powers. 

If someone dies and is not eaten, the soul decomposes with the body and dissapates into the earth.

Because the process of gaining Eiph's blessed power usally involves killing good and holy mortals of his faith, there has been development keeping the soul whole when consumed. By eating the body whole while it is alive, the two bodies merge into one. The soul however stays intact, and the two people now have the power of someone that has eaten two whole soul fragments. This process is diffucult, as the person must be eaten whole and alive until they are fully broken down and consumed by the eater, which can take several days. Magic to transfrom the bodies help, but if something goes wrong it can prove to be fatal to both the consumer and the consume. This process is called god eating among the cultists. If the god eating goes well, then two whole minds inhabit one body with the power of two full soul fragments. This does also cause mental and physical issues. The most common side effect is that extra limbs develop and the person starts to talk and interact with themselves, but other things can happen as well. This process can be repeated with more bodies, but the side effects of god eating start to become bigger and bigger until you are left with a blob of limbs and heads, with many voices calling out with no rhyme or reason. This is being worked on and fine tuned.

The cultist believe that the undead have no soul. Zombies, ghasts, skeletons, and other such creatues have been simply reanimated using foul demon magic. They are eaten as a food source and to make sure they cannot be raised again. Creatues like vampires are unholy beings, which consume the Eiph's soul fragments through blood because they have no soul themselves. This is seen as a terrible fate to the cultists, who would rather have their soul be shared among their loved one then feasted on by a demonic beast.

People who commit terrible crimes are not eaten, and are usally fed to pigs or other lifestock to make the animals soul richer, but not carry the inprint of the person when the animal is killed and eaten.

=== Necroswampers ===

Country name: Necroswampers

Population: 90% Undead 10% Alive

Capital : Lacking

Goverment: Anarchy of Lich Warlords

'''Culture'''

It does not take too much thinking to realize that lands Occupied by Necroswampers have no culture of their own. Non-cultists were killed off and enslaved by magic, or forced to escape. Only centers of “culture” are Lich Lords castles and mockeries of towns. There Lich Lords experiment with their magic, create philosophical treaties, and sometimes even invite not undead scholars or artists.

'''Religion'''

Lich Lords are worshipped by cultists like gods, but they themselves over time, as they lose connection with reality start beliving this charade. On case by case basis they sometimes keep their religion from time being alive, or just loose all religious convictions all together. There is one unifying, almost religious like idea connecting all Lich Lords -they all follow three rules:
1 Rule of Hospitality, if another sentient being is given access to your lands by you, you are responsible for their safety.
2 Rule of Immortality, if another Lich Lords existence is endangered, you can’t sit back and allow it.
3 Rule of Greatness, if one of Lich Lords manages to convince another about their superiority, they have to follow them until their fall.
Those rules in fact are failsafe against betrayal created by ancient necromancers, and written into ritual of lich transformation. Lich is physically unable to break them, if he used this original ritual to transform, but no one know about this fact, so no one tried to create new ritual.

'''Organization'''

Lands of Necroswampers are considered dangerous not just because undead roam the swamps and ruins. Its land destroyed by warfare between Lich Lords – warlords occupying Necroswampers lands like their personal fiefdoms, even though they have no king to offer their loyalties to. Each of them is prideful, vengeful, and full of betrayal. Each Lich is content keeping to his land, with exception of raids into lands of the living, for more experiment fodder. Periodically Necroswampers are unified by Lich (King ™) Necrolord who tries to use unified power of Necroswampers to do his bidding. Lack of Necrolord for long times leads to decreasing of power of Necroswampers, and country right now is middle of such period of renewed anarchy.

'''Origin'''

Necroswampers were created in third era, by men influenced by rock lying in the valley of what are now cannibal cults. They were just small tribe, but as they heard rock speak, they gained power over the dead. Rending bone from flesh, souls from bones, creating monsters from it all. They quickly mastered power over death, but lost control over their lives. Tribe feel into war, and only 16 men stood at the end. Some of them left in peace, one to the west, two to the north, one into treant empire, and two into rams head. 10 remaining Necromancers were witness to vanishing of meteorite they worshipped, and realized that they have so much more to learn, because meteorite hid many secrets now it wont be able to tell. They all created ritual. It was horrific, most monstrous thing they created, but it worked. They stopped to age, stopped to breath and crave. All that remained was steel will, and crystal clear intellect. They ruled together, and to make sure crimes of the past won’t repeat, they made lich transformation ritual in a way that made it impossible for them to endanger each other. But as spell grew weaker with centuries, they started to forget, became separated, and one after another died in demented state, only to be replaced by cultists, necromancers from far away, and many more kinds of people. Each joined cycle of first great activity, of growing in power and subjugating each other, and then failures, to end in land of mental prison.

'''Diplomacy'''

War with anyone who is not lich lord, and can be reached since atleast 3000 years, but unless Lich Lords are united under Necrolord, most of their power goes into keeping their armies "alive".

'''Geography'''

Land of Necroswampers is most dangerous and wild region of Drache Marshes. Air rich in posionus gases makes it impossible for normal flora or fauna to exist. Because of this only foul necromanced creatures roam the land.

'''Economy'''
Necroswampers don’t trade, they don’t plow the land and they don’t mine the earth. Cultists gain what they wan’t from raids, Lich Lords know alchemical ways of creating gold, and use it each in their own ways.

Only one lich remains from the old tribe, called the Eldest, and while respected by his peers, he can’t be called Lord even by his cultists, who worship him nonetheless, beliving it will save them from death of old age. It wont.

=== The Marshes of Drache ===
The east wetlands consist of a hodgepodge of races, cultures, and ethnicities; from necroswampers and goblins to ogres and various beastfolk. It's often seen as a savage mess by outsiders. There is no official nation in the marshes, but there are small or barbaric groups that do call this place home.

====Nations====
=====Ruk=====
======Nation======
It is composed primarily of humans, with humans being about 60% of the population, but lizardfolk make up another 30% and act as the main element of the militia and so are a dominant minority. The remaining 10% come from a hodgepodge of races. The city is currently held together mainly by the charisma of Ssaal, though there is tension between lizardfolk and humans. The humans believe that they should hold more power because they make up a majority, and the lizardfolk believe that they deserve more power because they keep the city safe. The city is mostly a dictatorship, but a benevolent one. Ruk isn't known by most of the world due to it being so deep in the swamp and so young, but it has begun trying to send diplomatic envoys to Seem. 


I'm imagining that Ssaal will name his successor, but no matter who he names, there is likely going to be a civil war to determine the social order. the humans and lizardfolk will fight it out without Ssaal to hold them together, and whichever side wins will dominate the city and choose the next ruler. Everyone knows that this is almost a definite fact, though Ssaal is trying his hardest to prevent it from happening when he dies.


======Origin======
The marshes are a deadly place, from the canibal cults to savage beastmen. People live constantly in fear, and villages can get whiped out in a second if they are unlucky. From this, a charismatic lizardfolk named Ssaal rised up. He gathered people that needed a new home and lead them North. They eventually stoped at the lake in the Northern Drache Swamps, Lake Srrezi, and there they formed a settlement named Ruk.

=====The Araknea=====
The Araknea are native to the Marshes. Living in differnet tribes, with their homes built as giant spider webs in the trees. Natives of the marshes know to steer clear of a Araknea settlement, as it would most likely mean that they would get caught and eaten.

=== Seem ===
Seem is an interesting place. A carved out riverbed out of the Drache Marches which are backed in eternal Darkness. Laying at their very edge Seem experiences a "sunny season" it lasts about 3-4 weeks. The existence of that sunny season is what marks the border of seem. Beyond that line the sun never shines and Vampires roam.

Thus is would seem that Seem should be a relatively peaceful human settlement or even trade power...

This is in fact where the name of foreigners for this place comes. Things here only ever Seem normal. The entirety of Seem is covered in huts and villages. It is not a super-city. Rather is is a super-village. Small homes with gardens big enough to just feed the family inside everywhere. There is no king or lord. There is no walls. There is no merchants, manufactorums, blacksmiths or cooks. Instead empty work stations are littered throughout it with tools no one seems to ever steel. All who need something go there and make it. Children are treated no different than adults from as young as 2 working in jobs better suited to those of small stature.

And of all things that seam, it always seams like they all are one. It feels like they hide it, but it is not rare for a Mai-Xi trader to visit the place and while talking to someone else a merchant starts a sentence, but a random passerby finishes it. And any rumor spreads instantly. Talk to one Seemian and all know you.

Seem also seams weak. No army no defenses no weapons. The Kingdom of Belara and it's colonial ambitions in Seem were quickly quashed because they trusted for things to be how they seam.