Post by Spus on Dec 2, 2007 23:23:14 GMT -5
The threat of an ancient black wyrm was sealed. The immigrants from Ruagnos could settle down in relative peace. The heroes of the crusade for a new home, Skulryke and his 8 associates had begun to lay the foundations for a new government. Skulryke and his eight associates laid out a government where the arcanists were in control- trusting that only the most intelligent and wise of the land, both traits common to wizards, would rule over the new nation. This was not met with total agreement- a former Ruagnosian Noble by the name of Clive Nareth, protested this format. He pushed forth the unpopular opinion that if it wasn't for the Mages' creation of Destoph's Amulet in the first place, they wouldn't be in this foul wasteland. Clive Nareth for the most part was shunned, many feeling they have more than made up for fixing the problem- but more than enough agreed. When Clive confronted Skulryke to reconsider with violent intentions, Skulryke offered a peaceful solution:
"My lord, this land is vast and uninhabited. Many of our fellow travelers departed to the eastern deserts, and they are far enough for us to not see them again so easily. I see the west is equally far away, why not take your people and head there, and our problem is resolved."
Seeing the logic and the futility of a war so early in the regions' inhabitance, Clive Nareth agreed, and headed west, agreeing to show no ill will to Skulryke and his loyalists. Clive and his people's stories are for another time, for this particular piece of history focuses on Uzinia.
Skulryke and his people named thier new Magocracy "Uzinia". Skulryke dubbed the name as a mix of an ancient(for his time even) arcane tongue's and elven words. Roughly translated, it means "All for the Magic". Granted that no one who would object knew what it meant anyway, the name stood. Around a temporary settlement, the 9 mages laid down the first stones to what they would hold as the capital of thier new land. They did so with arcane power of course, never being ones to exert themselves physically if it wasn't necessary. They then of course, immediately put the laborers to work.
The Tower of Zagfey(Meaning Pillar of Knowledge in the same garbled tongue that Uzinia came from), is as deep as it is high. Eight floors high, eight floors deep. The subterranean levels each house a library and laboratory dedicated to each of the eight schools of magic- from top to bottom- Divination, Abjuration, Conjuration, Transmutation, Illusion, Evocation, Enchantment, Necromancy. The first level of the building is used for diplomacy and the office of the elected counselor- the mage who has chosen to be the overruling leader over the others. Traditional titles in Magocracy such as Arch-Mage and Arch-Chancellor were quickly disposed off in order to give the common people the belief that Uzinia was a democracy. Of course, if someone the council did not approve of running for the position appeared, it's enough to say that tragic things cut down them and their campaigns, almost without fail. The three levels immediately above are the quarters for the tower guard, the councilors themselves, and any diplomatic guests. The top and third from last are two barrier floors, and training for the few martial hires of the tower. In between them, fiercely defended in both directions, is believed to sit the most valuable floor of the tower of Zagfey. A library and lab dedicated to combining and further researching high magic, that no practitioner of one school alone could muster. The activities of this floor are heavily guarded. It's said that no one without the correct rune on their person could enter- and that anyone trying to enter through the stairway would be transported from the 6th floor to the 8th. The 7th Floor, windowless, is currently inaccessible to the rule of Vincent Lambert, a non-magician who gained the control of the country recently. Despite his requests, no mage of Uzinia will assist him in gaining access to it.
For 200 years, the original council ruled, and brought Uzinia into power and stability. Soon though, several priests that brought up churches in the city became concerned with the unusually long lifespans of some of the councilmen. While some were elves & gnomes, there were some human members alongside them. And while wizards tend to be long lived when it comes to death by natural causes, 200 years is phenomenal by most's standards. Interestingly, when the curiosity began to gain power, the human counselor of Evocation, Sygnus, passed away, supposedly from natural causes. It became disrespectful for a time to question this, with the other humans, Jana, Rician, and Khyron, dying in almost a pattern. Granil, a gnome, was said to have been crushed by an accident in his lab after Khyron's death. Valdien had killed Debelge in a mage's duel, said to have been over an insulting, disrespectful comment about Khyron. Valdien, then overcome with grief of killing his comrade, then took his own life. A magical accident was said to have banished Jakkon to another dimension. Overcome with grief over the rapid and sudden death of his once close friends, Skulryke resigned from the council, never to be heard from again, finally leaving the Uzinian government completely without it's initial leaders. It is rumored however, that the deaths of the councilmen were not legitimate. Many claim to have seen the councilors after their so called "deaths", for hundreds, even thousands of years after they should of been gone.
The people of Uzinia are a fair-skinned people of the plains. Uzinia, as a country, is really flat, with the exceptions of the mines to the northeast and the northwest. The country is always on some base with it's founders roots, enforcing mandatory education of some sort for all of it's citizens. Easily sixty percent of the country can cast some form of magic, although most would not be considered magicians by anyone's standards. The Uzinian people are for the most part modest and hardworking farmers, miners, and merchants. They look out for those and those they care about, but won't actively seek to harm people they don't know for their own benefit.
Uzinia has a rough relationship with it's western neighbor Jal'Nareth. For most of thier shared existences, they were mostly amicable. Every so often a conflict explodes between them, commonly over something such as territorial disputes, followed by a century or two of uneasiness. The recent conflict is a personal world record, as the ties between the two nations healed only seventy years after a violent war. Kasios and Aridia are both strong partners, mainly do to trade for Uzinia's strong natural resources- Uzinia as such, has only had one conflict with the whole of Aridia- one that Aridia quickly conceded, seeing there dependency on the Uzinian resources. Kasios has proven a military ally as well, as their assistance in the conflict with Jal'Nareth several decades ago is what led to thier split from Aridia. Despite this, Aridia still felt no ill will towards them. Kilkralthen, the land of the dwarves, is only on tolerable terms, not naturally trusting of magical humans, the dwarves seeing that annoying Uzinia too much cuts off contact to the rest of world, and they aren't about to get on too agreeable terms with those smarmy elves. The smarmy elves, on the other hand, get along amicably- it's not unusual for several elves to be on the council at any given time.
The faith of Uzinia isn't particularly strong. While the aristocracy of magic pays heed to Wee Jas, Boccob, and Vecna- and there of course, missionaries of Pelor, seeking to improve life wherever they can. For the most part however, religion does not play an entirely big part in the lives of Uzinians. In fact, some have denied there is any religion at all. A group picking up in Zagfey, who call themselves the Unbelievers, a derogatory term used by some of the more zealous churches, promote the idea that there are no gods looking over Orenero or the world in general. They cite the lack of gods ever manifesting on the prime plane, that questionable psychological health of some said prophets, and that almost all effects of divine magic are mimickable by arcane powers. They claim that said divine magic is just another form of sorcery. The church of Pelor in Zagfey has taken an active role in standing against them - a position mainly thought to taken because of the smugness and self-righteousness of some Unbelievers, and them talking down to various religious figures if they were nothing more than charlatans.
"My lord, this land is vast and uninhabited. Many of our fellow travelers departed to the eastern deserts, and they are far enough for us to not see them again so easily. I see the west is equally far away, why not take your people and head there, and our problem is resolved."
Seeing the logic and the futility of a war so early in the regions' inhabitance, Clive Nareth agreed, and headed west, agreeing to show no ill will to Skulryke and his loyalists. Clive and his people's stories are for another time, for this particular piece of history focuses on Uzinia.
Skulryke and his people named thier new Magocracy "Uzinia". Skulryke dubbed the name as a mix of an ancient(for his time even) arcane tongue's and elven words. Roughly translated, it means "All for the Magic". Granted that no one who would object knew what it meant anyway, the name stood. Around a temporary settlement, the 9 mages laid down the first stones to what they would hold as the capital of thier new land. They did so with arcane power of course, never being ones to exert themselves physically if it wasn't necessary. They then of course, immediately put the laborers to work.
The Tower of Zagfey(Meaning Pillar of Knowledge in the same garbled tongue that Uzinia came from), is as deep as it is high. Eight floors high, eight floors deep. The subterranean levels each house a library and laboratory dedicated to each of the eight schools of magic- from top to bottom- Divination, Abjuration, Conjuration, Transmutation, Illusion, Evocation, Enchantment, Necromancy. The first level of the building is used for diplomacy and the office of the elected counselor- the mage who has chosen to be the overruling leader over the others. Traditional titles in Magocracy such as Arch-Mage and Arch-Chancellor were quickly disposed off in order to give the common people the belief that Uzinia was a democracy. Of course, if someone the council did not approve of running for the position appeared, it's enough to say that tragic things cut down them and their campaigns, almost without fail. The three levels immediately above are the quarters for the tower guard, the councilors themselves, and any diplomatic guests. The top and third from last are two barrier floors, and training for the few martial hires of the tower. In between them, fiercely defended in both directions, is believed to sit the most valuable floor of the tower of Zagfey. A library and lab dedicated to combining and further researching high magic, that no practitioner of one school alone could muster. The activities of this floor are heavily guarded. It's said that no one without the correct rune on their person could enter- and that anyone trying to enter through the stairway would be transported from the 6th floor to the 8th. The 7th Floor, windowless, is currently inaccessible to the rule of Vincent Lambert, a non-magician who gained the control of the country recently. Despite his requests, no mage of Uzinia will assist him in gaining access to it.
For 200 years, the original council ruled, and brought Uzinia into power and stability. Soon though, several priests that brought up churches in the city became concerned with the unusually long lifespans of some of the councilmen. While some were elves & gnomes, there were some human members alongside them. And while wizards tend to be long lived when it comes to death by natural causes, 200 years is phenomenal by most's standards. Interestingly, when the curiosity began to gain power, the human counselor of Evocation, Sygnus, passed away, supposedly from natural causes. It became disrespectful for a time to question this, with the other humans, Jana, Rician, and Khyron, dying in almost a pattern. Granil, a gnome, was said to have been crushed by an accident in his lab after Khyron's death. Valdien had killed Debelge in a mage's duel, said to have been over an insulting, disrespectful comment about Khyron. Valdien, then overcome with grief of killing his comrade, then took his own life. A magical accident was said to have banished Jakkon to another dimension. Overcome with grief over the rapid and sudden death of his once close friends, Skulryke resigned from the council, never to be heard from again, finally leaving the Uzinian government completely without it's initial leaders. It is rumored however, that the deaths of the councilmen were not legitimate. Many claim to have seen the councilors after their so called "deaths", for hundreds, even thousands of years after they should of been gone.
The people of Uzinia are a fair-skinned people of the plains. Uzinia, as a country, is really flat, with the exceptions of the mines to the northeast and the northwest. The country is always on some base with it's founders roots, enforcing mandatory education of some sort for all of it's citizens. Easily sixty percent of the country can cast some form of magic, although most would not be considered magicians by anyone's standards. The Uzinian people are for the most part modest and hardworking farmers, miners, and merchants. They look out for those and those they care about, but won't actively seek to harm people they don't know for their own benefit.
Uzinia has a rough relationship with it's western neighbor Jal'Nareth. For most of thier shared existences, they were mostly amicable. Every so often a conflict explodes between them, commonly over something such as territorial disputes, followed by a century or two of uneasiness. The recent conflict is a personal world record, as the ties between the two nations healed only seventy years after a violent war. Kasios and Aridia are both strong partners, mainly do to trade for Uzinia's strong natural resources- Uzinia as such, has only had one conflict with the whole of Aridia- one that Aridia quickly conceded, seeing there dependency on the Uzinian resources. Kasios has proven a military ally as well, as their assistance in the conflict with Jal'Nareth several decades ago is what led to thier split from Aridia. Despite this, Aridia still felt no ill will towards them. Kilkralthen, the land of the dwarves, is only on tolerable terms, not naturally trusting of magical humans, the dwarves seeing that annoying Uzinia too much cuts off contact to the rest of world, and they aren't about to get on too agreeable terms with those smarmy elves. The smarmy elves, on the other hand, get along amicably- it's not unusual for several elves to be on the council at any given time.
The faith of Uzinia isn't particularly strong. While the aristocracy of magic pays heed to Wee Jas, Boccob, and Vecna- and there of course, missionaries of Pelor, seeking to improve life wherever they can. For the most part however, religion does not play an entirely big part in the lives of Uzinians. In fact, some have denied there is any religion at all. A group picking up in Zagfey, who call themselves the Unbelievers, a derogatory term used by some of the more zealous churches, promote the idea that there are no gods looking over Orenero or the world in general. They cite the lack of gods ever manifesting on the prime plane, that questionable psychological health of some said prophets, and that almost all effects of divine magic are mimickable by arcane powers. They claim that said divine magic is just another form of sorcery. The church of Pelor in Zagfey has taken an active role in standing against them - a position mainly thought to taken because of the smugness and self-righteousness of some Unbelievers, and them talking down to various religious figures if they were nothing more than charlatans.