The Blood of Bosparan

South of the Middenrealm, on the western coast of Aventuria, lies the Empire of Horasia, the second-largest human realm in Aventuria. As the successor state to the ancient Bosparanian Empire, which once spanned over a significant part of the continent, it is a long-time rival of the Middenrealm and a great power in its own right. Though smaller in size, it is technologically advanced and has an excellent military and the largest navy in Aventuria. Horasia and the Middenrealm have hostile relations on a political level, though no blood has been shed between them in centuries, resulting in them being in a cold war nowadays.

Before there was the Horasian Empire, its territories were the heartland of the Bosparanian Empire, the first human empire in Aventuria, whose influence and legacy is still affecting the entire continent to this very day, over a thousand years after its fall. It is said that Bosparan was founded by a semi-mythical figure, the so-called Horas, who is considered a saint by the Church of Praios, the first Envoy of Light and whom the people of Horasia outright worship as a demigod. Every emperor of Bosparan has traced their line back to the first mythical Horas, though today's regional spotlight shall begin at a time period even before Horas' arrival at the true origins of Aventuria's greatest empire and its two influential successor states.



Though the early days of humanity in Aventuria are not particularly well-documented, scholars agree that only the Nivesian tribes are native to Aventuria. The other human sub-races arrived at the continent from different directions. There were the Hjaldings, who crossed the frozen sea to the north and settled alongside the Nivesians in the wilds of northern Aventuria. The Sumurrians were led from the dark continent of Rakshazar in the far east by the benevolent giantess Chalwen, while the Uthurians crossed the southern sea on primitive boats.

Undoubtedly the most influential migration for human history in Aventuria came from the west, however, from Myranor. Only few solid pieces of information are known about the distant land to the west, but in these early days, thousands of years ago, the Second Empire of Myranor ruled over a large portion of the western continent. Its ruling class, the Optimatoi, worshipped eight gods, some of which are archaic forms of gods worshipped by the Cult of the Twelve Gods in modern-day Aventuria, while others are different entities, entirely unknown to the Aventurians. Other faiths were not accepted and other religions were mercilessly persecuted.

One particular sect, the Hexatheans, worshipped only six gods, namely archaic forms of the gods Praios, Boron, Efferd, Travia, Peraine and Rahja, who make up half of the modern Pantheon of the Twelve Gods. For their refusal to submit to the Optimatoi, they were persecuted in Myranor, so they braved the treacherous sea between their home and the eastern continent, which they called 'Aventuria', in the hopes of establishing a new home for themselves there.

Their expedition was successful and it marked the first time that a significant amount of humans managed to cross the sea all at once without being guided by a higher being. It allowed them roughly a century of peace and they settled on the island group that is nowadays known as the Cyclops Islands. Unfortunately, their success also proved to the Optimatoi that it is possible to cross the sea safely and in great numbers, which made expeditions to Aventuria suddenly viable for the ruling class of the empire.

A century later, House Charybalis, one of the leading noble houses of the empire, managed to repeat the success of the Hexatheans. They came with warships and with an army and within weeks, they managed to subdue the heretics, forcing them to accept the imperial authority once more, although their religious traditions survived and continued to thrive, so far away from Myranor's heartland.

The Cyclops Islands and the eastern coastline of Aventuria were formally made a part of the empire. They named the new province 'Yaquiro', though they saw little value in the wild, untamed land. Neither the Khom desert, nor the swamps to the south or the harsh mountains to the north were explored by these early settlers and the land was considered mostly worthless. The Optimatoi eventually decided to make it a penal colony and it remained under imperial rule for five hundred years, ruled over by a man called Horas. The Cult of the Twelve Gods considers Horas a champion of Praios, who was granted exceptionally long life by his patron in order to lead Yaquiro into a new golden age. He ruled over Yaquiro for centuries and during these days, he already laid the foundation for the later independence of the penal colony.

Eventually, a great catastrophe shook the Seven Wind Sea between Aventuria and Myranor, one whose source is not entirely revealed to this day. Terrible storms began to rage, with waves tall as mountains forming and crashing into each other, effectively cutting off any form of sea travel between Aventuria and Myranor. The Cult of the Twelve Gods attributes this deed to Efferd and calls the impassable portion of the Seven Wind Sea the 'Efferd Wall', but what moved the god to such a drastic step is not know. The priests of Efferd believe that he sought to protect Aventuria from a great evil brewing in Myranor, but whatever the truth, it separates the two continents to this very day.

This is where the official version of the story differs from what a few radical historians claim. According to them, there are secret texts from the days of the old empire who reveal that Horas was not a name, but a title, used for provincial governors in Myranor. The long life of the first Horas can therefore be attributed to him not being one man, but several consecutive provincial rulers whose names have been faded into obscurity, with only the name of their title surviving in the records. The reign of the last officially appointed Horas fell into the time where the Efferd Wall formed in the Seven Wind Sea, which left him and his people stranded in Aventuria. Over time, what used to be a title became synonymous with the man himself, as did the previous rulers who used it. Of course, such speculation is not endorsed by the Cult of the Twelve Gods and outright forbidden in civilized Horasian society.

What is known is that Horas, regardless if he was merely a mortal and the last in a line of Horas-governors or a heaven-sent saint or even a demigod, laid out the foundations of what would become the Bosparanian empire. He founded the city of Bosparan itself, with its hundred towers and insurmountable walls. With Myranian efficiency, he and his men brought order into a lawless part of the continent, filling the void left by the mutual destruction of Aventuria's previous superpowers, the empires of Tie'Shanna and Zze Tha. Without any possibility for control from the old mainland in Myranor, this new Bosparanian Empire began to thrive. And no matter the truth about Horas, his successors all used his name as their title and to this day, the rulers of Horasia claim to be his descendants.

The first ruler of the Bosparanian Empire whom hard historical facts can be attributed to is Dalina-Horas, whom the Bosparanian historians always considered to be Horas' daughter. Her birth is estimated to have happened around the year 1100 before Bosparan's eventual Fall, which means she was born roughly 2100 years before modern Aventurian times. This makes her one of the earliest human beings for whom modern Aventurian historians have a clearly defined birth date. Her relation to the mythical first Horas is pure speculation though, while some claim her to be his daughter, another theory is that she was his most ardent supporter, while others claim that she was merely the last of the Horas-governors of the Myranian colony, which would make her synonymous with the Horas of legend. One notable accomplishment of Dalina was the establishment of laws that were equal in every part of the empire, the Ius Divi Horathis. It is the oldest fully preserved code of law in human history and though long since considered outdated, it was a remarkable accomplishment for its time and the original is kept as a sacred treasure by the Church of Hesinde.

Dalina's son and successor, Belen-Horas was the first great expansionist of the empire. Under him, the Bosparanian army was often tested by battle, developing superior tactics over their often less organized neighbours and swiftly, he managed to conquer vast amounts of land, which makes him one of Aventuria's most capable and well-known conquerors. He expanded the realm from the jungles of Meridiana to the fertile plains north of Yaquiria, all the way to the Troll Peaks and many modern cities can date the history of their founding back to his reign.

Encouraged by his success, Belen forced the clergy of his empire to declare him a living god, to follow in the footsteps of his already mythical predecessor Horas. By doing so, he established yet another tradition of the later Bosparanian Emperors, their supposed claim to divinity. That being said, during the same year as he declared himself a god, terrible unrest broke out on the borders of his empire and he was forced to fight against orks and goblins and especially against the trolls of the Troll Peaks. This war, the so-called Troll War, was long, bloody and costly for both sides, though while the humans with their high numbers managed to recover well, the Troll War nearly caused the extinction of the trolls and it is known as the last time this ancient and once-powerful race had the numbers to march to war.

One big break in the early expansionist policies of the empire was the early death of Belen's son Seneb-Horas. His son, Seneb II. was still an infant when his father died and for over a decade, a regency council ruled in the young emperor's stead. During these years, the wise members of the regency council managed to shape their future ruler to their liking and when Seneb was crowned emperor at last, he was known as a wise, benevolent and peaceful ruler.

He and his seven successors, Asmodena, Nasul, Arn, Yulag, Isiz, Svelinya and Thuan ruled over a period of over two hundred years and their reign was known as the reign of the Peaceful Emperors, the first golden age of the Bosparanian Empire. The Peaceful Emperors ruled over a stable and prosperous realm and though they were by no means as pacifistic as their title might imply, their wars were few and far between. Most of the expansion was done slowly, carefully and through diplomacy. On top of that, the realm itself was peaceful and quiet, with no inner turmoil of note shaking the provinces.

That being said, the Peaceful Emperors were by no means all good and capable rulers. Due to their supposedly divine right to rule, they were usually above all criticism and quite a number of them left the realm worse than when they inherited it. The sole defining quality of their rule was the inner peace of the empire, with Bosparan and the provinces growing and prospering, as well as the cautious, stable and lasting expansion of its borders.

One notable war of aggression during these years was Yulag-Horas' war against the realm of the Al'Hani, in the region that is known as Tobria in modern days. Torn by a violent civil war, the Al'Hani were no match for the Bosparanian legions, but the conquest was nonetheless bloody and drawn-out, a stark contrast to the otherwise benevolent image of Yulag-Horas.

Eventually, this period came to an end during the reign of Haldur-Horas. While the prosperity of the empire slowly declines, one particular province came to prominence, the northern crown colony of Garetia. Unlike the wildly varying performance of the Peaceful Emperors, the viceroys of Garetia were elected by popular vote for a set amount of time and this ensured that there was always a capable ruler governing the wealthy colony.

Soon, the wealth of Garetia threatened to overshadow even the imperial capital, which gained them the envy of the Peaceful Emperors. The last of them, Haldur-Horas, finally ended the centuries-long period of inner peace in the empire when he began to sanction Garetia, with brutal taxes and heavily decreased autonomy.

While this already gained him the animosity of the Garetians, it should be his son and successor, Fran-Horas, who would escalate the growing conflict into open rebellion. Now infamously known as the Blood Emperor, Fran was a proud, overconfident man, a mage of tremendous skill and the first of many Bosparanian Emperors who worshipped the Archdemons of the Nether Hells over the proper gods of the empire. He was also cunning enough to realize that the conflict with Gareth absolutely demanded a strong response, or else he'd risk unrest in the other provinces as well.

As such, against the advice of his councilmen, Fran marched against the rebels, personally leading his vast legions. The Garetians were notably fewer, badly equipped and mostly just untrained peasants, whereas Fran brought with him a legion of skilled, battle-hardened killers. By all means, the battle should have been a one-sided slaughter, but Fran made one crucial mistake.

In his desire to bring fear to the hearts of all who dared to rise up against him, he wanted to prove his mastery over the Nether Hells, by summoning hundreds of demons at once, more than any mortal mage had ever summoned. In doing so, he made a fatal error, for while he was able to summon them indeed, even a mage of his skill was unable to control so many demons. The monsters, feral and unbound, began to attack both armies at once, completely annihilating the Garetians and decimating the army of Bosparan so badly that the military might of Aventuria's foremost great power was essentially crippled for centuries. The so-called First Battle of the Demon ended in a disaster for both sides and the only ones who actually gained something on that day were the archdemons, who managed to drag tens of thousands of souls into the Nether Hells.

Fran returned to Bosparan, a victor in name only. In great shame, he was forced to renounce all of his titles and even then, a violent mob nearly tore him apart. The former Blood Emperor had to flee to the outer provinces he so despised. He died just a few years later, middle-aged and childless, a thoroughly broken man, though the circumstances of his death have been lost to the ages.

In his stead, an influential nobleman Olrucis Arivorensis, took the throne for himself as Olruk-Horas, forming the Olrukid dynasty who should rule over the crumbling empire in the following decades. With its mighty legions gone, Bosparan was brought to the brink of ruin. As a direct result of this weakness, several provinces separated from the empire, independent warlords took control of key parts of the empire and old and new enemies of Bosparan invaded the border regions. These bloody centuries are now known as the Dark Ages.

During these centuries, the smallfolk of Bosparan suffered, while the nobility sought some escape and relief in increasingly cruel and decadent activities. Demon worship grew rampant within the empire and the Archdemons were sometimes even worshipped side by side with the established gods. The imperial authority was at an all-time low to the point where the emperor was often less powerful than his various provincial governours.

This decline only continued under the Olrukids, consisting of Olruk and his son, Olruk II. As the first emperors of Bosparan, they did not claim to descend from Horas and therefore had no divine mandate to rule, which only further weakened their authority and the respect they got from their subjects. It was therefore neither a surprise nor a tragedy when Olruk II. was killed by his general, Halmar Valgardson. Originally a Thorwalian pirate before he proved his military skill to Olruk II., he took the throne for himself and ruled as Halmar-Horas.

Just a few years later, he had to fight against a fellow general, Bender the One-Eyed, who crowned himself Bender-Horas and waged a bloody civil war against Halmar during the Year of the Two Emperors. Both emperors fought exclusively against each other, ignoring the threat of orks and goblins on their border, the growing strength of the Tulamids to the east and the ever-present discontent in the northern provinces.

As such, a third emperor rose up against them. Dozman-Horas, formerly the Grand Admiral of the Bosparanian fleet, ordered the assassination of both emperors and took the throne for himself. Stern, capable and just, his early reign promised a return to the golden age that was lost during the reign of Fran-Horas and the Seafaring Emperor, as he was known by the people, was easily the most popular emperor since the last of the Peaceful Emperors.

Unfortunately for the realm, his reign was short, as he died just four years later, when a terrible storm ravaged his fleet, sinking his flagship with him still on it. To this day, the people of Horasia tell stories of the Emperor with the Silver Ship, who is supposed to return and take the throne when his people need him the most. Similarly to Fran-Horas, he left no children, which means that there was another succession crisis in the empire.

Eventually, Yarum, a grand-nephew of Olruk II was crowned emperor. As Yarum-Horas, he was responsible for the Lex Imperia, essentially a large re-arranging of the imperial provinces, which finally did through simple politics what Fran-Horas failed to do through violence. The inner provinces of the empire prospered, as most of the wealth was redirected into them, while the outer provinces, among the Garetia, suffered greatly by Yarum's decree. Though it prolonged the absolute control Bosparan had over these provinces, it only increased the difficulties his successors had to face and is nowadays seen as a short-sighted move to support Yarum's reign at the cost of that of his successors.

The most influential dynasty of the Dark Ages was founded by Yarum's grandson, Dalek-Horas. The so-called Dalekids were defining for the issues that plagued the empire during these grim centuries. Famously inept and decadent, the Dalekids are all in all viewed as thoroughly terrible rulers in modern times, whose reign saw a steady decline in power and authority for the emperor and the empire as a whole. Dalek II. was particularly infamous here, for his reign marked the first time enemies breached the gates of Bosparan, when Thorwalian raiders laid siege to the city and plundered most of its riches.

Their reign was interrupted only once, for a little over a decade, when the brilliant general Jelianus Jacirenus moved against Bosparan and forced Dalek II to abdicate the throne, after the old emperor had ruined the empire for over forty years. He then took the title for himself and became known as Jel-Horas, the Martial Emperor, ruling not by any divine legitimacy but simply due to the legions of Bosparan declaring their absolute loyalty to him. This essentially made him a military dictator instead of a proper emperor by Aventurian understanding, but his successors legitimized him posthumously to ensure the loyalties of their legions, who had nothing but respect and admiration for their former brother-in-arms.

Jel was an accomplished warrior and tactician, who waged a bloody war against the insurgents within his own empire. Briefly accomplishing what his predecessors had struggled to do, restoring the absolute peace among the provinces that had been the norm under the Peaceful Emperors, Jel died young and left a legacy as a brief, strong and well-liked ruler, though unfortunately, he left no legitimate children.

After a crown council was called to decide on the matter of succession, the noblemen of Bosparan decided to restore the Dalekid dynasty to power through Usim I, a distant nephew of Dalek II, who took the throne as Usim-Horas. He is remembered as the most capable of the Dalekid emperors, though still a relatively weak ruler in his own right. Nonetheless, he is remembered more fondly than his inbred and feeble-minded son Usim II, who lost significant parts of the northern provinces to the orkish warlord Nargazz Bloodfist.

It would take over two hundred years for the Dalekid dynasty to fade from power. By then, the empire was a shadow of its former self, with impoverished provinces, entirely lawless regions, almost independent provincial rulers and an emperor who held the title in name only. The people suffered from threats near their borders, decadence and demon worship had grown rampant within the empire.

It was Brigon of Kuslik who would forcibly remove the last Dalekid, Dalek III., from power. As Brigon-Horas, he led the empire back from the brink of ruin and into its final golden age through a system of complicated, but effective reforms. He is credited with bringing back peace and order to the empire and prosperity to the border provinces. A wise and largely benevolent ruler, he was also a great supporter of the Church of Hesinde. To this day, the church considers him a saint, especially by virtue of him founding and financing a widespread system of public schools.

As accomplished as Brigon-Horas was, his son Silem-Horas managed to be even greater and historians consider him the greatest of the Bosparanian Emperors and one of the greatest human rulers to have ever lived. Though one of the last rulers of Bosparan, he brought the empire to its greatest power and stability, overshadowing the achievements all of his predecessors with ease.

Though Silem-Horas pacified rebellious provinces and managed to conquer the Sultanate of Elem in the southern Khom Desert, his greatest achievements are culturally and they are the ones that survived Bosparan's Fall by far. First, he created the Bosparanian alphabet, the Kuslikian signs, which are used throughout most of the former Bosparanian territories to this day, among them the Middenrealm, Horasia and Meridiana. By doing so, he got rid of a dozen regional alphabets and greatly increased the effectiveness of his administration.

Second, and most importantly, he is nothing less but the founder of the modern Church of the Twelve Gods. After conquering the Sultanate of Elem on the edge of the Lizard Marches and witnessing the multitude of dark gods worshipped in its marshland temples, he realized that the Bosparanian Empire needed a unified pantheon instead of the dozens of regional gods that were worshipped throughout the realm.

As such, he is responsible for the Silem-Horas decree, in which the modern Aventurian pantheon is narrowed down to the Twelve Gods Praios, Boron, Rondra, Ingerimm, Efferd, Phex, Travia, Peraine, Tsa, Firun, Hesinde and Rahja, with several other entities made demigods. Before him, these gods were by no means unknown or unpopular, but he was the first to place them into one unified pantheon. By using the most popular gods and the most popular ways of worshipping them, he ensured an immediate majority in favour of his new decree and thus, the Church of the Twelve Gods was born.

Furthermore, Silem-Horas followed in his father's footsteps as a great patron of learning and the finer arts, improving on Brigon's school reforms, but also encouraging and funding the construction of great public libraries in the larger cities of the empire. The most prestigious of these and the only one to survive to this day is the Silem-Horas library which he built in the conquered city of Elem, to combat the narrow-mindedness of its inhabitants and to decrease the influence of their dark deities. The city is known as Selem in modern times and though still a city of madness and decay, its library remains a hoard of knowledge with few equals to this day.

After Silem-Horas, only three more emperors would follow. First, his daughter Obra-Horas, who began to focus on expanding into the crumbling Diamond Sultanate of the Tulamids. A powerful nation, but long since plagued by the same issues Bosparan had to face before Brigon-Horas, the Diamond Sultanate was already breaking apart when Obra began to annex its border provinces.

To the Tulamid culture, where men and women have strictly separated roles in society, it came as a great shock to many that their fiercest opponent was a woman. As such, ancient Tulamid accords of her reign speak of her as a man, a cause of great confusion for modern historians. This 'Emperor Obra' who began the conquest of the Diamond Sultanate is viewed with utmost respect by those Tulamid scribes though. A possible, but entirely unconfirmed theory is that Obra, though born a woman, adopted a male identity once she ascended to the throne, but if this is indeed the case, no records or decrees about this remain and as such, historians generally address her as a woman.

Obra merely laid the foundations of this final Bosparanian conquest though. Her son and successor Murak-Horas, penultimate Emperor of Bosparan, was the one who actually crushed the Tulamid armies. In his day, he was considered the greatest swordsman and tactician alive and for this, the Church of Rondra considers him a saint to this day, despite the bloody war of aggression he waged. With his conquest of the Diamond Sultanate, the Bosparanian Empire reached its greatest size, now spanning across two thirds of all Aventuria.

As powerful as the empire seemed under Murak-Horas, as quickly did his daughter and successor Hela manage to destroy it. Hela-Horas, final Empress of Bosparan, was known for her beauty, her cruelty and her limitless desire. In spite of her great-grandfather Silem-Horas, she renounced the Twelve Gods and was the first and last Bosparanian Empress to openly worship the Nether Hells. Half a dozen demon pacts and her considerable skill as a mage made her one of the most powerful mortals of her day, but this was not enough for Hela. To her face, she was only ever called the 'Beautiful Empress', but behind her back, she was given a title that should remain synonymous with her to this very day: The Demon Empress.

Hela finished her father's conquest of the Diamond Sultanate. Already beaten into submission by Murak's legions, Hela made sure that the Tulamids would not just yield, they would suffer until every thought of rebellion had left them. Though reports of her cruel deeds are numerous, it is commonly agreed upon that her Decree of Culling is by far the worst. To crush the Tulamids, not just their armies, but also their spirits, she sent her legions into each of the conquered cities. There, each citizen had to participate in a lottery. One third of these citizens was chosen through this lottery and summarily executed, regardless of age, gender or occupation.

Her Tulamid genocide and the preceeding war were so devastating that it is estimated that the Tulamid population hasn't quite recovered to this day. Hela personally oversaw the lottery in a few cities, apparently taking great delight in breaking the spirits of her conquered foes. Of course, such cruelty earned her a great deal of enemies in her own empire, but the Demon Empress moved against critics with the same brutality as she showed against her conquered enemies. In return, her friends and supporters greatly benefited from her reign and by placing loyal sycophants in positions of power, she managed to secure her own rule against critics from within.

It is no surprise that Hela is by far the least popular Bosparanian Empress. To this day, historians struggle to find anything even remotely good or redeemable about her, which has led some to believe that the historic accords were heavily painted by her eventual successor and arch-enemy, Raul of Gareth. And yet, it is commonly believed that reports of her cruelty are authentic and by no means embellished.

It is only fitting that Hela's actions directly contributed in her eventual downfall. One survivor of her Tulamid genocide was Raul ibn Rafid, who lost most of his family, including his wife and their young children, to the empress' lottery. Yearning for revenge, he cut ties with the rest of his family, who dared not to provoke Hela-Horas' wrath any further and travelled north, where he lived for years as a sellsword.

Around these years, the age-old conflict with Garetia resurfaced. Disgusted by Hela's cruelty, the Garetians expressed their solidarity with the Tulamids and soon rose up in open rebellion against her. Raul, an experienced warrior, quickly became one of their leaders and his knowledge about Hela's tactics helped the rebels a great deal in their first smaller victories against the Bosparanian legions.

Vain and capricious, Hela would not stand for any challenge to her authority and as such, she quickly gathered her legions, almost the entire military might of the empire, and moved against Gareth. She planned to attack Raul's army in Garetia or perhaps to lay siege to the city, which would have given her an excuse to burn all of it to the ground, but Raul anticipated her move. Before she even finished gathering her armies, he and his allies were already marching against her, forcing her to act fast to avoid damage to the northern borders of Bosparan's heartland.

The battle between Hela and Raul took place not on the open fields of Garetia as she had hoped for, but in the mountains of southern Almada, near the settlement of Brig-Lo, where her numeric advantage mattered little. With this, their armies were evenly matched, especially as Raul's Garetian rebels were supported by additional troops from the North Marches, the Kosh and Albernia. Even entire Bosparanian legions defected to his side, out of sheer disgust at what Hela had done in the Diamond Sultanate. On the other side, the Demon Empress made liberal use of her mages and her own arcane powers to turn the tides of battle repeatedly against Raul, forcing him into a desperate struggle to survive her brutal onslaught.

Hela's fortunes faded when a large army of Tulamids intervened in the fight. Filled with nothing but hatred for the empress, the remnants of the Tulamid army had gathered to support their countryman Raul. It was in this moment that Hela sealed the end of the Bosparanian Empire, which had survived for over a thousand years before her, through the tumultuous Dark Ages and through any incompetent emperor thrown against it. In her arrogance and growing concerns, the empress decided to show the rebels why she was known as the Demon Empress behind her back. As such, she called upon her patron archdemons in the Nether Hells, summoning the largest army of demons ever seen in Aventuria. And unlike her foolish predecessor Fran-Horas, Hela managed to control them, proving herself the most powerful demonologist to have ever lived. For this deed, the climactic battle would later be known as the Second Battle of the Demon.

What she did not know is that there is a cosmic balance between the gods and the archdemons and if one intervenes, they open a door for the other to intervene just as severely. And with her dismissal and open mockery of the gods of Alveran, Hela had made quite a few serious enemies among them. The gods Praios, Rondra, Ingerimm and Efferd personally intervened in the battle. With fire and lighting, they slew Hela's demons and for all her arcane power, all the empress could do was to flee in terror, as the rebels cut down her legions in the field.

Raul and his army won against the remaining Bosparanians, a costly, but thorough victory. He knew that there would not be peace in Aventuria as long as the Demon Empress still lived, so he prepared to march against Bosparan itself, the hundred-towered city of old. It was said to be impregnable, as Hela surely knew. With her remaining loyalists, she barricaded herself within the city, while her empire crumbled around her.

The gods were not done with their vengeance, however, and as soon as Hela ordered the gates closed behind her, a massive storm went down over the city. Fire and lighting rained down upon Bosparan, killing each and every citizen within. Though no scribe was there to witness it, legend has it that the Demon Empress herself was dragged into the Nether Hells by the demons she had sold her soul to, her shrieks of terror audible over hundreds of miles.

No matter the truth, when Raul arrived at the gates of Bosparan, the greatest city mankind had ever built was nothing more than a smouldering ruin and the greatest human empire was similarly gone. The Bosparanian Empire was the defining superpower of the continent for over a thousand years and its collapse came sudden and left a great power vacuum in Aventuria. And though the rebellious north of Bosparan managed to stabilize as the Middenrealm, the once-prosperous south, the heartland of the old empire, was left in complete disarray.



In the centuries after Bosparan's Fall, the southern remnants of the empire have suffered through great conflict and catastrophes. Critically weakened by the loss of their legions, the lords of Bosparan had no choice but to bow to Raul of Gareth for a while, though he ruled from the rebellious northern crown colony and not from the ruins of the old empire, making his hatred for the old Bosparanian heartland quite clear.

As such, while the provinces that supported Raul in his rebellion were rewarded and considered fully-fledged provinces of the Middenrealm, the remnants of Bosparan were split up and quite openly occupied by the new emperor's troops. Foreign governors were chosen to rule over this region, now split up into the provinces of Phecadia, Yaquiria, Chababia and Drol. These four provinces make up the core of the modern Horasian Empire, although back in the day, Raul tried his best to prevent them from ever being unified again.

One thing the great emperor misjudged, however, is the shared history and the bonds between the four provinces and his successors did not manage to keep them separated for long. Future emperors of the Middenrealm also did not share Raul's hatred for the Bosparanian heartland and as such, when powerful noblemen from all four provinces demanded a unified representation of their needs,
they had no reason to deny it to them. The entire region, though still nominally split into four provinces, was governed by only one man ever since, the Viceroy of Horasia, who was able to enjoy an ever growing autonomy, to the point where Horasia was virtually independent from its mighty northern overlord. The ruler of Horasia, however, was a member of the House of Gareth in these days, ensuring a degree of loyalty to the emperor of the Middenrealm.

This changed when the last male member of Raul's line was murdered, presumably by a priest of Rondra. With no male heir available to take the crown, the Envoy of Light Aldec Praiofold declared himself the first of the Priest Emperors and just like in the rest of the Middenrealm, their reign is remembered as cruel and overly zealous. The Viceroy of Horasia in these years was always a Priest of Praios

Rohal the Wise, the famous Mage Emperor of the Middenrealm, eventually allowed the Horasians to choose their own ruler from their own nobility, another step to independence. The Horasians chose Yumin Galahan, the Duke of Kuslik, as their ruler, who in return swore utmost loyalty to the Middenrealm. And for a while, this move seemed to have been another brilliant decision by Rohal, allowing the Horasians a degree of autonomy while keeping them content with their Middenrealm overlords.

Unfortunately, Rohal couldn't have foreseen how this new power would eventually corrupt the House of Galahan. Though Yumin and his son were exceptional rulers and true Horasian patriots, later generations of Galahan stewards were loyal solely to their own gain and started to bleed the Horasian treasury dry. The people began to suffer under high taxes, equally imposed by the Eslamid dynasty of the Middenrealm and the Galahan stewards and it became increasingly more obvious that the stewards had no real interest in improving the situation of the Horasians.

Tensions boiled ever higher for about two centuries, in which the Galahan stewards began to use brutal force to beat down any attempt at insurrection. Though Horasian by birth, they became closely connected to the nobility of the Middenrealm and were quickly seen as traitors by their countrymen.

The high taxes and poor administration of the Galahan stewards brought Horasia poverty and famine, even though the region is one of the most fertile and populous in all Aventuria. Understandably, the people soon had enough of this mismanagement and started to protest, peaceful at first, but after House Galahan beat down the first protests, the discontent quickly grew into a fully blown rebellion.

At first, this rebellion was led covertly. Sabotage and assassination were the methods with which the early Horasian rebels tried to win their independence from the Middenrealm. Imperial Officers were murdered, supplies were stolen, goods were sabotaged and with the people overwhelmingly on the side of their countrymen, the Middenrealm army had to resort to draconic punishments in return, massacring innocent townsfolk and only driving more and more Horasians into open rebellion.

The tensions finally culminated in a bloody, drawn out civil war in the year 744 BF, when the nobility of Horasia declared its independence from the Middenrealm. This conflict, the Horasian War of Independence lasted for eight years and bled both nations dry. Led by Khadan Firdayon, the Horasian rebels used their superior knowledge of the land and the vast sympathies of the smallfolk to outsmart and defeat the huge Middenrealm armies numerous times.

Meanwhile, the bloated and ill-trained Middenrealm army struggled to defeat the Horasians in the field, though their far superior numbers still prevented the rebels from completely defeating them. Fortune was in their favour, when Emperor Eslam III, who had been unyielding towards the rebel demands, suffocated after accidentally swallowing a small bone during dinner. His son, Eslam IV, was weak-willed and is considered the weakest of the Eslamid emperors, but he was also abhorred by war and secretly sympathized with the Horasian struggles, on top of being openly fascinated by Horasian culture and cuisine. After almost a decade of war under his father, he quickly sued for peace with the Horasian rebels, admitting that the unruly southern province would be lost for good and essentially cutting his losses.

The Peace Treaty of Kuslik ended the war and though neither side managed to score a decisive victory, this treaty was overwhelmingly in the Horasians favour. They won their independence from the Middenrealm, although the free territories were re-organized into the smaller kingdoms of Yaquiria, Chababia and Drol, with the fertile north of Horasia given entirely to the Kingdom of Yaquiria. Eslam IV managed to score a small victory here, as Khadan Firdayon, as King of Yaquiria, confirmed that there would only ever be one Emperor in Aventuria, the Emperor of the Middenrealm. As such, Khadan himself would only ever call himself King of Yaquiria and would not achieve his dream of being crowned Emperor. By defending the title of Emperor, Eslam also gained some legitimacy and respect, especially from the Church of Praios.

The peace treaty also came with a large re-organizing of the Middenrealm nobility. Families with possessions in both, the Middenrealm and Horasia were forced to give up their titles within the Middenrealm, becoming sole subjects of the King of Yaquiria. This was especially costly for the House of Garlishgreet, who had owned substantial territory in the entire region of Phecadia, which was now split between Horasia and the Middenrealm. The greatly disliked Galahan stewards lost most of their titles, but Khadan allowed them to remain the Dukes of Kuslik and through this act of mercy, they remained powerful subjects within his new kingdom.

Though the Peace Treaty of Kuslik clearly intended for Yaquiria, Chababia and Drol to become independent kingdoms that would keep each other in check, Eslam IV underestimated how much more powerful and popular the Kingdom of Yaquiria was. During his lifetime already, the two smaller kingdoms became client states in all but name and Yaquiria effectively controlled the entire region of Horasia, even using the name synonymously instead of its proper title more often than not.

During the following centuries, Horasia prospered. Fully accepting its Bosparanian heritage, it made good use of its splendid natural resources and of the quick wit of its people. It is no surprise that Horasia is the most advanced nation in all Aventuria these days, as it is the only place where Simia, originally a god of the High Elven pantheon, is worshipped as the god of inventors, a fully-fledged demigod and part of the Pantheon of the Twelve Gods according to Horasian beliefs, though he is not commonly included among the proper Gods of Alveran in the rest of Aventuria. Craftiness, intelligence and ambition have long been virtues in Yaquiria and now freed from crushing Middenrealm taxes, some of which were specifically designed to keep the people of Horasia from ever regaining the strength they once had, the young kingdom quickly became a force to be reckoned with.

Furthermore, the first Horas, the mythical founder of the Bosparanian Empire, is worshipped as a demigod in Horasia and unlike Simia, who is at least accepted by the Church of the Twelve Gods beyond the Horasian borders, Horas' divinity is heavily disputed in other parts of Aventuria. The Horasians see him as a son of Ucuri, who himself is the son and herald of Praios. Where his father serves Praios alone, Horas is seen as the herald and envoy of all twelve Gods of Alveran. Where his grandfather stands for the feudal order in general, Horas' main aspect is maintaining the harmony between a benevolent sovereign ruler at the top and his content, peaceful subjects below.

Naturally, the Middenrealm, still Aventuria's foremost superpower, has always been sceptical about Horasian ambition at best and openly hostile at worst. The two nations have stressed diplomatic relations and can be considered to be in a cold war. Economic interests on both sides have prevented a full-scale war, but blood has been shed on the heavily fortified border region and expansionists in the government of both nations have in the past only narrowly been held back by calmer minds. More than once, it was just a little bit of luck that prevented the two great powers from dragging the entire continent into a devastating war.

The Kingdom of Yaquiria has been ruled over by the House of Firdayon uncontested for almost its entire existence. Though there is a clear and unashamed bias among Horasian historians, who naturally remain the foremost experts for such history, the Firdayon rule over Horasia is considered to have been usually benevolent and capable. Over the centuries, their reign has been contested only once, in the year 812 BF, when Khadan's grandson Alborn was dethroned by Kusmara Galahan, Duchess of Kuslik, who sought to restore the former glory of her noble family. Though she was officially crowned as Queen of Yaquiria for a few years, interrupting the reign of House Firdayon, massive protests among the higher nobility, who feared a reunion with the Middenrealm if a Galahan were to rule over them ever again, forced her to abdicate and grant the crown back to Alborn.

After Alborn's reinstatement as King of Yaquiria, the Anti-Middenrealm policies became even more widespread, which is nowadays seen as an attempt by the once-dethroned king to clearly separate his reign from Kusmara's closer connection to the northern rival. He and his successors never waged open war against the empire, but always knew where to strike to hurt the Middenrealm nonetheless. This became most notable during the Imperial Interregnum, when dozens of warlords fought for control over the Imperial Throne, after the last of the Eslamid Emperors, themselves notably fond of the Bosparanian legacy the Horasians similarly worshipped, had died without a direct heir.

Back then, Queen Amene II Firdayon schemed with Duke Kunibrand of Tobria to divide the Middenrealm between them and with her support, the Duke would have nearly won the struggle for the Imperial Throne, which would have spelled the end for the Middenrealm. In the end, Perval the Cruel defeated him in a climactic battle and his victory marked the end of any possible friendship between the two great realms. Perval, his children Bardo and Cella and their cousin and successor Reto all imposed harsh sanctions against Yaquiria and there was virtually no diplomatic contact between them. In fact, Reto even married his only son and heir Hal to Alara Paligan, a noblewoman from the distant Empire of Al'Anfa, Horasia's primary rival to the south.

Peaceful and with a deep desire for harmony, Hal of Gareth finally put an end to the diplomatic ice age between his empire and Horasia. Signalling a period of understanding and peace, he initiated diplomatic contact with Amene III Firdayon, then just the queen of Yaquiria. Amene did not thank him for his kindness and instead saw it as weakness, an opinion she wasn't alone with. After years of preparing in secret, getting oaths of fealty from the other rulers of the Horasian territory and slowly making her ambition known, she finally struck just as Emperor Hal disappeared during a political visit in the Bornland. With the Middenrealm weakened by his reign and his disappearance, she united the kingdoms, crowning herself Empress of Resurgent Empire of Horasia in a deliberate and direct violation of the Treaties of Kuslik.

Ever since, the two empires are nominally at war, but on the night of her coronation, Amene, who called herself Amene-Horas ever since, like the Bosparanian Emperors of old, declared that she respects the territories of the Middenrealm and that she will recognize its ruler as emperor, declaring that from now on, there will be two emperors in Aventuria. With Hal just having disappeared and the realm being in turmoil, his son and regent Prince Brin had no choice but to begrudgingly acknowledge these terms, but to this day, he has not sued for peace and occasional border skirmishes between the two empires prove very much that they are indeed at war, even if neither Brin nor Amene have any interest in making the first move.

The newly crowned Empress Amene-Horas has united the kingdoms of Yaquiria, Chababia and Drol under one title, while also ruling over the Kingdom of Cyclopea in a personal union and gaining oaths of fealty from the dwarven stronghold of Shradok, creating one of the largest and strongest realms of modern-day Aventuria in one night. Each of the kingdoms was notably on its own, but with all of them combined under one ruler, Amene has become the second-most powerful ruler of Aventuria.

Of course, this move has immediately gained the fledgling empire significant enemies. Due to breaking the Treaties of Kuslik, Amene has essentially declared war on the Middenrealm and both, the Novadi Caliphate to the east and the Al'Anfanian Empire (which, despite its name, is not actually ruled by another emperor but essentially a theocracy under the Patriach of Al'Anfa) to the south, view Horasia with hostility. Only a handful of smaller nations, such as the city state of Brabak and the small realm of Kemi in the southern jungles, have openly allied themselves with the new empire, hoping to gain some protective from the openly expansionist tendencies of Al'Anfa.

Furthermore, while Amene-Horas is loved by the smallfolk and the lower nobility, she has immediately reduced the privileges of the higher nobility, even creating new titles specifically to cripple the political power of her influential rivals. The Church of Rondra is also deeply sceptical of her, whereas the Church of Hesinde openly supports the empress and considers her an exemplary devotee of the Goddess of Wisdom.

Only five years have passed since the empire was formed, but under Amene's reign, Horasia has already become a force to be reckoned with. The independent kingdoms that now form the empire have long since supported craftsmen and inventors, as well as artists and philosophers. As virtually the only place in Aventuria, Horasia worships the ancient elven god Simia, whom they consider the patron god of inventors. The churches of Ingerimm and Hesinde are also highly regarded. With such a union of inventiveness, craftsmanship and knowledge, it is no surprise that Horasia has quickly created technological marvels that have not been seen since the days of the High Elven realm of Tie'Shanna.

Though smaller in size than the Middenrealm and with far less manpower, the Horasian army is expertly trained and supremely equipped, a force of professional soldiers to be reckoned with. For the time being, they have only been used defensively, but Horasia's neighbours nervously await the day when Amene-Horas has properly consolidated the realm behind her, for many expect that then, she will turn her attention to the outside. For now, she has enough to do with rivals from the inside. Most notably is the Duchess of Kuslik, Kusmina Galahan, who has been a rival of Amene long before she was crowned empress and who continues to be a thorn in the Horas' side. The Church of Rondra is also openly critical of the empress. They often hold staunchly conservative opinions that are quickly cast aside by the drastically progressive society Amene has created and while all but the most traditionalist Priests of Rondra can arrange themselves with the societal and political reforms, the same cannot be said about the revolutionary improvements Amene-Horas' weaponsmiths have made on the battlefield. Against their outspoken criticism, Amene has equipped her armies with crossbows, which the Church of Rondra considers dishonourable. They favour the sword and honourable combat man against man, which modern Horasian tactics openly discourage. Instead, ranged combat has become more important under Amene's rule, with the infantry often being equipped with expensive halberds to keep their enemies at distance. Due to the closeness between the Horas and the Church of Hesinde, battle magic is also used to its full, destructive potential within the Horasian army. Perhaps most intriguing of it is a recent discovery by the imperial alchemists, who have created a rudimentary and still highly unstable material they call 'Black Powder', whose explosive qualities, while currently seen as too volatile to be used on the battlefield, are further explored by a few of the most daring alchemists in the empire.

Geographically, one term that is often used when speaking of Horasia is the 'Fair Field'. For someone outside of Horasia, this term is used synonymously to describe the entire region the empire is located in and the common Aventurian associates it with the fertile plains and temperate coastline Horasia is known for. The Horasians, however, use the term only to describe the northern half of their country, the part that was formerly held by the Kingdom of Yaquiria. The other two kingdoms within Horasia each hold their own beauty, but no one would call the harsh, rocky landscape of Chababia or the marshland of Drol fair. Most of the wealth in Horasia comes from this northern half, with the southern kingdoms gaining their reputation mostly from a few lavish cities, with most of the smallfolk in the villages living in poverty.

Yaquiria, however, deserves the term 'Fair Field' without a doubt. Generations of bards, writers and artists have consistently described it as the most beautiful region in Aventuria and it is not hard to see why the first Bosparanian settlers decided to establish a permanent colony there. Yaquria is rich and fertile, with gentle hills and sprawling cities, many of which are among the oldest in Aventuria, having been constantly populated since the days of Bosparan. The capital of Vinsalt has even been built on the ruins of the ancient capital itself, masterfully incorporating them into its own grandiose architecture.

When foreigners think of the archetypical Horasian, they almost always think of the people of Yaquiria, in both good and ill. The people there have a reputation of being arrogant, with the nobility being known for its schemes and decadence, while even the peasants view themselves as superior to those from other parts of Aventuria. Yaquiria considers itself the most culturally advanced region of the continent and indeed, the finer arts are held in high regards here. It is no surprise that alongside Hesinde and Ingerimm as gods of knowledge and craftsmanship, Rahja, the goddess of pleasure, is widely worshipped. Once a year, all of Yaquiria celebrates the Fest of Pleasures, the highest celebration of the Church of Rahja, with entire cities decorated in lavish colours and its people singing, dancing and engaging in carnality on the streets. While the people of Yaquiria perhaps haven't entirely earned their reputation as arrogant loudmouths and deceptive schemers, they surely live up to their reputation as great artists and craftsmen and Yaquiria is considered one of the most lively and joyful regions in all Aventuria.

Major cities in Yaquiria include the capital of Vinsalt, built upon the ruins of Bosparan itself, as well as Grangor, the 'city of a thousand canals', which lies in the northern region of Phecadia and whose duke, Cusimo of Garlishgreet, is the only ruler in Aventuria who owns territory in Horasia as well as the Middenrealm. Another city of note is Methumis, formerly a sleepy small town until its current ruler, the ambitious and well-educated Duke Eolan Berlinghan, invested a significant amount of money to make his domain one of the foremost centres of education in Aventuria, by building one of the largest universities on the continent. Finally, the city of Kuslik, which hosts the Hall of the True Snake, the primary temple of Hesinde in all Aventuria. Where Methumis prefers a worldly education for noblemen and rich commoners, Kuslik has dedicated itself to arcane education and it is the only city in Aventuria with three academies of magic within its walls. Due to the rivalry between Amene-Horas and Kuslik's ruler, Kusmina Galahan, the city is also a centre of anti-Horasian philosophies.

To the south lies Chababia, a land of warriors, constantly threatened by raiders from the Novadi caliphate, with which it shares a border. The Church of Rondra is strong here and with them comes open criticism about the empress. Honourable combat has a long tradition here and the people of Chababia hold stories of great heroes in high regards, from the legendary Geron the One-Handed, the first mortal to wield the divine sword Sevenstrike, to Thalionmel, the Lioness of Neetha. The people of Chababia value honour, duty and self-sacrifice as high virtues and even the poorest among them carry some manner of weapon with them, though the more modern inventions from the north are typically viewed with suspicion.

The land itself is as rough as its people. Where Yaquiria is gentle and fair, Chababia is harsh and dangerous. The region itself is known among Horasians as the Wild South, where dangerous men and even more dangerous creatures dwell. Its rugged landscape has a beauty of its own though and to the east, it grows gradually steeper and more severe, especially where Chababia borders on the tallest mountains of the High Eternans, the mountain range that separates Horasia from the Khom desert. The region grows more arid the closer it gets to the desert, while still remaining fertile enough to support villages, cities and large border fortresses. As the only region in Horasia, Chababia also has a significant goblin population, remnants of the great goblin hordes that ravaged Bosparan after the crippling losses their legions suffered during the First Battle of the Demon. These goblins are different from their northern cousins, however, as they have never learned how to co-exist with humans. Most of them live in the rough valleys and tall peaks of the High Eternans, only leaving their homes in search of plunder. Though the High Eternans are dangerous and constant retaliation from the soldiers of Chababia have prevented those goblins from becoming more than a nuisance, their explosive breeding habits have similarly allowed them to maintain a stable and slowly growing population.

Though the Horasian kingdom of Chababia shares a name with the larger region of Chababia, it actually holds only roughly half of its territories. The other half is held by the Sultanate of Chababistan, which is part of the Novadi Caliphate. The two have an ancient and deep-seated rivalry and both, Chababia and Chababistan openly desire each other's territory and in the past, both sides have led repeated invasions across the border. During Bosparanian times, the people of Chababia have been the aggressors and their legions were at the forefront during Murak-Horas' conquest of the Khom desert, something the proud people of Chababistan have neither forgotten nor forgiven. After Bosparan's Fall, however, their roles were switched and the Novadi raiders have missed no opportunity to make their neighbours pay. These days, Horasian incursions into the desert are rare, but Novadi raids or even invasions are a permanent threat they had to get used to.

The two largest cities of note in Chababia are Arivor and Neetha. The former remains under the direct control of the Church of Rondra to this day and though the Archdukes of Arivor, who are also always Priests of Rondra with a seat on the High Council of the church, have sworn nominal fealty to Amene-Horas, they are among her fiercest critics as well, a sentiment that can be found among its citizens too. Neetha meanwhile is renowned for its most well-known heroine, Thalionmel, one of the most famous saints of the Church of Rondra. Roughly three hundred years ago, the young priestess of Rondra single-handedly faced a Novadi army that had come to conquer Chababia, holding them off on the Silem-Horas bridge near Neetha. Her devotion to her goddess was so strong that not even otherwise lethal injuries managed to bring her down and when she eventually fell to the massive Novadi army, legend has it that Rondra herself sent a great storm that destroyed the bridge and what remained of the invaders. Thalionmel is known as the Lioness of Neetha to this day and her sacrifice is a favoured folk-tale in the region. The people of Neetha are consequently deeply pious, though the city itself has a reputation for being fairly impoverished and more focussed on past glories than future investments.

The third and smallest of the three Horasian kingdoms is Drol, a remote marshland. It marks the northernmost end of the Rain Forest, the thick jungle that covers the entirety of the peninsula of Meridiana. The landscape is defined by countless rivers and lakes, as well as thick, primeval forests, which slowly grow into a treacherous marshland near the southern coast. At the same time, the south-eastern portion of the kingdom, the region known as Harodia, is lush and fertile, with countless smaller rivers feeding the massive Loch Harodrol, the fourth-largest lake in Aventuria. The area around Loch Harodrol is one of the few remaining centres of the Achaz species in Aventuria, albeit not as prominent as the Lizard Marshes, the jungles of Meridiana or the infamous island of Maraskan.

Though Drol is the least populated of the three kingdoms, it is by no means empty. The largest city of note is eponymously named Drol and despite the reputation of the kingdom as a remote, ugly swamp, it is renowned as one of the most beautiful cities in Aventuria, where Horasian and Meridian culture has been combined into a unique and enchanting mixture. Drol has also given its name to the Roses of Drol, which are roses particularly renowned for their beauty, which naturally only grow in and around the city.

The people of Drol often live in tight-knit communities, but outsiders often consider them odd and sometimes inhospitable, especially in the more remote villages. Living in a cultural melting pot between the Horasian Empire to the north, the Emirate of Mengbilla to the south and the Al'Anfanian Empire to the south-east has created a unique culture of its own, combining the typical Horasian wit and grandeur with the Al'Anfanian lust for live and the Mengbillan respect for rules and authorities.

All in all, the Empire of Horasia is easily the second-most powerful nation in Aventuria and with its rapid technological progress and wealthy cities, its neighbours rightfully fear that it could surpass the Middenrealm in power and even seek to restore the old borders of the Bosparanian Empire. For now, Amene-Horas and her court has not voiced such ambition, but few can predict what the cunning empress has planned. Culturally, Horasia is already one of the most important regions in Aventuria and the Horasians, especially those from Yaquiria, desire perfection in all matters. Horasian fashion has influenced even the court of Gareth and the high society of Al'Anfa, its cuisine is widely considered the most sophisticated in all Aventuria, innovations in the form of new tools and weapons are rapidly taking the world by storm, downright revolutionizing many aspects of Aventuria's day-to-day life, from agriculture to seafaring and even to warfare. While technically the newest of Aventuria's great powers, few doubt that the nation will have a golden future ahead of it.



To the west of Horasia lies a number of islands, some close to each other, others with dozens upon dozens of sea miles between them. Together, this archipelago is known as the Cyclops Islands, or Cyclopea, the most important group of islands in the Seven Wind Sea, both from a strategic and historical standpoint.

On their own, most of the islands are unremarkable. They are small and not particularly fertile, with few natural resources. Over half of the islands harbour no human population at all and the largest city and capital, Rethis, is barely home to over three thousand people. Worse, even the somewhat civilized islands are still plagued by dangers, as bandits and darker creatures lurk in the remote corners of each island. Separate from the Aventurian mainland, Cyclopea has a close link to the Realms of Fae and is home to strange and sometimes dangerous beasts from those otherworldly realms.

As such, it is a small wonder that the first humans to arrive on the Cyclops Islands did not turn around immediately. Then again, they had little choice, for they were the Hexatheans, members of a small religious sect that was violently oppressed in their home, the distant continent of Myranor. These people were the first settlers from Myranor to make their home on the islands and their ancestors later helped building the Bosparanian Empire, which eventually became Aventuria's defining great power for over a thousand years.

These settlers made their home in Palakar on the western shore of Pailos, the largest and westernmost of the Cyclops Islands. Their modest village was eventually taken over by the Myranian Fleet, when the Optimatoi of the Myranian Empire conquered the islands and built a penal colony there and on the nearby shore of Aventuria. The wooden huts of Palakar were torn down and replaced by stone buildings, as a grand city was constructed in its stead.

Though Palakar has been destroyed by an earthquake long before the Fall of Bosparan, its ruins remain of great interest for historians, for they are the oldest human ruins in Aventuria. In general, there are many ruins on Cyclopea, some Bosparanian, but some built in an older style, showing the splendour of the old Empire of Myranor. These ruins are the only source for historians to learn more about the distant continent and its people, as well as the origins of Bosparanian civilization in Aventuria.

The influence of Myranor has found its way into many customs found among the humans of the islands. Native Cyclopeans are typically lean, with dark hair and a naturally bronze tan, features that originate from the ancient Myranian settlers. Their language, though familiar to the Bosparano of old and clearly influenced by the modern Garethi that evolved from it, has managed to keep a clear influence of the old Imperial language. Cyclopean names also have strong imperial roots, as do, presumably, some of their customs.

That being said, the Myranian settlers never considered all of Cyclopea a rightful part of their empire, unlike the more fertile western shore of Aventuria. This is due to the fact that the islands already have a native species, one that vehemently and successfully managed to keep the Myranians from fully annexing their island. They are the cyclopes, after whom the islands are named and they are among the largest and rarest of the intelligent species in Aventuria.

Back in ancient days, before humans first arrived on Cyclopea, the cyclopes had their own realm there. They are two or three times as large as humans and though their features are comparable, cyclopes are born with only one eye. According to their beliefs, they are the firstborn and chosen race of Ingerimm, the god of fire and craftsmanship, whom they worship as Ingrash. And indeed, every cyclops is a master craftsman, with their weapons, armour and tools reaching a level of perfection that can be reached by none but the most talented human craftsmen. Some of the most famous weapons in Aventurian history have been forged by cyclopes.

Cyclopes are fascinated by the act of crafting, be it weaponry, armour, tools or jewellery. They are usually peaceful and not hostile, but short-tempered and stubborn. Angry cyclopes have attacked settlements and ships before, but as a whole, they are not malevolent beings. Due to their dark past, most cyclopes prefer to live among their own kind and few have any sort of contact to humans, though in return, few would be immediately hostile to a human should they encounter one.

That being said, by the time the Myranians arrived at the shores of Cyclopea, the old Cyclops Kingdom has already been long gone, with the race as a whole in heavy decline. The reason for this is an ancient feud between the cyclopes and the god-dragon Pyrdacor. During the Second War of the Dragon, where Pyrdacor fought against his brother Famerlor, the god-dragon came to the Cyclops Islands in search of allies. He demanded that the cyclopes would craft him mighty weapons with which his armies could turn the tide against Famerlor. However, the cyclopes refused to aid Pyrdacor and out of revenge, the dragon summoned a great earthquake that caused over half of the Cyclops Islands to sink into the sea. When he was done, no city remained on Cyclopea and two thirds of the cyclops race had been annihilated. Ever since, the Cyclopes have been a dying race and it is estimated that in modern times, only a few hundred remain, most of them near the many active volcanoes of Cyclopea.

As such, when the Bosparanian Empire moved to take the islands after their connection to Myranor had been lost, the cyclopes did not manage to resist for long. After a few bitter skirmishes, an uneasy truce had been made, during which the Bosparanians fully annexed the islands, while granting the cyclopes the right to remain in their ancestral homes without having to become subjects of the Bosparanian emperors.

With their cities in ruins and their numbers ever dwindling, the cyclopes had little impact on the future of the Cyclops Islands and in modern times, few have ever met one of them, even on the islands themselves, with them being treated as nothing but a local oddity instead of the powerful race older than mankind itself.

Instead, the history of the Cyclops Islands have been shaped by humans, first and foremost. After the Bosparanians annexed the islands, they built great fortresses or reinforced existing structures left by the cyclopes and the Myranians. Under their reign, the Cyclops Islands became an important naval base, where the war fleet of the mighty empire was stationed in times of peace.

Such was the importance of Cyclopea that it became the first province of the Bosparanian Empire to receive its own provincial ruler. In the year 828 before Bosparan's Fall, Horadan of Rethis was named the first Archont of Cyclopea. His capital city of Rethis on the island of Hylailos became the largest city on Cyclopea and under him, the culture and unique language of the islanders became officially recognized by Bosparanian scholars.

However, the more autonomy and representation the people of Cyclopea received, the less loyal to the Bosparanian Empire they became. Horadan's grandson Rohafan was the first of many troublesome Archonts, though historians would argue that he was by far the most infamous of them as well. In young years, Rohafan was tempted by the Nameless One and began to worship him over all other gods, albeit in secret.

The Nameless One granted Rohafan inhuman powers, making him immune to ordinary weaponry and ordering him to murder every Priest of Praios on the islands. Rohafan did as he was told, murdering the priests in secret at first, while growing his following, then openly once he had gained influential enough among the nobility of Cyclopea. Eventually, every single Priest of Praios on Cyclopea was killed.

Rohafan's reign was depraved and cruel, with the man himself apparently becoming something more than human, a true champion of the Nameless One. Some consider him one of the first human vampires in Aventuria, perhaps even the origin of this dark curse and while this claim is disputed, it is known for certain that he developed a taste for human blood in his later years.

Eventually, the Bosparanian empress of the time, Svelinya-Horas of the Peaceful Emperors, reluctantly moved against Rohafan, with the tyrant being no match for her legions and the war fleet of the mighty empire. Once more, Cyclopea was made a part of the empire, with Rohafan's distant kinsman Pelmides ascending to the throne.

It would be Pelmides' son, also named Pelmides, who would later attempt to declare independence from Bosparan once more, renouncing the title of Archont and calling himself Sea King instead, a title that survived to the present day. His rebellion was well-intentioned and he attempted to break off peacefully, an approach that would have worked under the mild-natured and gentle Svelinya-Horas, but not under her great-grandson, the infamous Blood Emperor Fran-Horas.

Fran-Horas wasted no time, sending his armies to slaughter Pelmides' forces indiscriminately, before capturing, torturing and quartering the rebellious Sea King. The Blood Emperor named Pelmides' daughter Menkirdes, who had been keen enough to support him against her father from the first day of his rebellion, as the new Archont of Cyclopea.

Menkirdes was a cruel and deeply unpopular ruler, whose harsh taxes drove the people to increasingly desperate insurrections. She acted harshly against her own subjects, beating down even peaceful protests. Furthermore, while Fran-Horas considered her a loyal subject for his entire life, she wasted no time to follow in her father's footsteps after the Blood Emperor's defeat during the First Battle of the Demon, declaring her independence from the crumbling Bosparanian Empire once again. This third attempt at separating from the empire would work and though later rulers of Cyclopea and Bosparan would work closely together, no Sea King or Queen would ever bow to the emperor again.

Indeed, though legally independent ever since, many of Menkirdes' successors would heavily rely on aid from the Bosparanian Emperors and in return, the islands remained important for the imperial war fleet. Close trade deals and military aid only further cemented a peaceful and close cooperation between the two nations.

That being said, it was the wise decision of Sea King Merymar to remain neutral during the conflict between Hela-Horas and Raul of Gareth, technically a timely betrayal of the mighty Bosparanian neighbour, that guaranteed the continued independence of Cyclopea after the Fall of Bosparan. Emperor Raul of Gareth respected Merymar's decision and instead of annexing the significantly weaker Cyclops Islands as his advisers had told him, he negotiated for extensive treaties between the two nations.

In the next centuries, while the Middenrealm and the resurging Horasian Empire came to blows more than once, Cyclopea remained neutral and on good terms with both larger nations, enjoying the benefits of free trade with both regions. Furthermore, due to its location as the westernmost land mass of Aventuria, the Cyclops Islands have also gained notoriety as the place where bold explorers would set off for their journey to the famed Gyldenland, the western continent of Myranor. To this day, Myranish goods sometimes find their way to the ports of Cyclopea, brought back by daring sailors who have braved the Efferd Wall.

However, the more recent history of Cyclopea has not been without threats and catastrophes either, even though most of its Sea Kings after Bosparan's Fall were at least decently capable or well-intentioned. Due to its remote location, the Sea Kingdom has been repeatedly threatened by outlaws, at one point during the Mage Wars a group of necromancers even outright controlled the islands and demanded a hefty payment in blood and corpses to give them back to the rightful Sea King again.

More than that, the islands are home to several active volcanoes and eruptions or earthquakes are no rarity. The larger cities of Cyclopea, especially Rethis and Teremon, have each seen great destruction by natural causes and it is estimated that many ruins of immeasurable historical value have been lost over the centuries.

Furthermore, though politically strictly neutral for the longest time of its existence, the Cyclops Islands are actually responsible for one of the largest political catastrophes in Middenrealm history. In the year 864 after Bosparan's Fall, when the Middenrealm colony of Mengbilla declared its independence, Emperor Eslam of Almada, then emperor of the Middenrealm, sent his fleet, along with his two eldest sons, to conquer the rebellious city once more.

Some accords claim that the Cyclopeans, worried that the mighty fleet could conquer their homes next, lured the heavy ships into a trap and sunk them all in the narrow straits between the islands, while others claim that the cylopes themselves, riled up by the thought of the Middenrealm conquering their homes, threw rocks at the great ships. What is known for certain is that almost the entire fleet was destroyed and both of Eslam's sons died with them.

After this, Eslam was a broken man, who eventually simply allowed an assassination attempt on his life to succeed. His only remaining son, Bardo, was infamous for drinking and whoring himself into an early grave, effectively ending the line of the Eslamid emperors and causing the bloody interregnum, where several self-proclaimed emperors fought for control over the Middenrealm. The current ruling dynasty of the Middenrealm would not have gotten to their current power if not for the sinking of the war fleet.

In recent years, however, Cyclopea has ended its neutrality. Sea King Mermydion II, negotiated an extensive treaty with Amene Firdayon, then Queen of Yaquiria, who had clear ambitions to crown herself Empress of the Horasian Empire. A close alliance between the realms was made and Mermydion even named Amene as his successor over his legitimate son, who was but an infant at the time the treaty was made.

A few years later, the Sea King died during a hunting accident, leaving Amene to crown herself Sea Queen of Cyclopea, ruling over the islands in a personal union. With the Cyclopean fleet at her disposal, she gained the strength she needed to crown herself Empress of the Resurgent Empire of Horasia, the official successor state of the Bosparanian Empire.

However, recent events have caused her to give up her claim over Cyclopea once again. Just a few months ago, in the year 1015 BF, a man appeared in front of a few Cyclopean lumberjacks as they moved to cut down an ancient grove. As it turned out, this grove contains one of many portals into the Realms of Fae and is looked after by the dryad Trydea. This man introduced herself as her lover and companion, none other than Sea King Palamydas Thalyin, who ruled over the islands until his mysterious disappearance almost a hundred years ago. Back then, he had not died as many of his subjects had assumed, but followed the dryad he had fallen in love with, living with her in the Realms of Fae, where time flows differently.

Arcane and karmic methods to prove his identity only confirmed his claims and the returned Sea King quickly gained a massive following among the Cyclopeans, who would rather see one of their own rule over them instead of a foreign queen. With the help of his supporters, Palamydas managed to hold a passionate speech in front of Amene-Horas and her powerful subjects, actually moving the empress and many of her dukes. Proving her integrity and farsight, the empress willingly gave up the crown of Cyclopea in exchange for Palamydas' loyalty. The Cyclops Islands became a province of the Empire of Horasia afterwards, the only kingdom where the other provinces are mere duchies, now ruled over once more by their Sea King and his dryad queen.

King Palamydas rules over a scattered nation of islands, over half of which are uninhabited, at least by humans. Only the larger and more fertile of the islands actually support human life and even then, most Cyclopeans live close to the shores, where they make a living as fishermen or shepherds. The only two cities of note are Rethis, the capital and seat of the Sea King, and Teremon, capital of Pailos, the largest and most densely populated of the Cyclops Islands.

The islands themselves are warm and often sunny, with many visitors noting the beauty of the white rocks that make up the foundation of the islands, as well as its soft hills and gentle winds. It is not surprising that the beauty of Cyclopea has inspired many artists and philosophers. Hesinde and Efferd are the chief deities of the islands and as such, artists and philosophers are highly respected, alongside sailors and fishermen who provide the backbone of Cyclopea's economy.

Pailos is the westernmost and largest of the Cyclops Islands, though the most important is without a doubt Hylailos, where the capital city of Rethis stands. Furthermore, the island of Baltrea is of particular note, for even though it is home to only a few fishermen, it also houses the famed Oracle of Baltrea, where the young shepherdess Ypodemia received a vision from Praios' marshall, the griffin Garafan. On his orders, Ypodemia wrote down three prophecies and sealed them for later generations to open, with the first being opened after the death of Emperor Bardo and the beginning of the Imperial Interregnum. The second is supposed to be opened soon by the loyal Praiots who maintain the temple on Baltrea. Ypodemia herself later went on to become the Envoy of Light, the highest mortal servant of Praios.

The people of Cyclopea pursue simple lives and few of them have ambitions to amass great wealth or commit great heroics. The commoners are often fishermen or shepherds, but artists and craftsmen are also highly respected. Philosophy is considered another form of art on the Cyclops Islands and the common people have such respect for the great thinkers of their kind that they actually support wandering philosophers with food and coin, men and women whose only duty is to wander where they desire, to speak of their philosophies and encourage critical thinking among the population. Since this almost always comes with some manner of free education for the commoners, the people of Cyclopea are, on average, more highly educated than the people in other parts of Aventuria.

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Her Imperial Majesty Amene-Horas, Queen of Yaquiria, Phecadia, Drol and Chababia, Protector of Hylailos, Arivor and Shradok, Empress of the Resurgent Empire of Horasia is without any doubt one of the most accomplished politicians in modern Aventurian times. Born as Amene Firdayon, she ascended to the throne of Yaquiria as Amene III. and ruled over a sizeable portion of the Fair Field, the central part of what is nowadays Horasia. Her influence extended over the entirety of the loosely allied Horasian kingdoms, especially after she inherited the title of Sea Queen of Both Hylailos, essentially ruling over the Cyclops Islands under a personal union. Behind this, Amene had greater ambitions.

Her time to strike came when Emperor Hal of Gareth disappeared. With no emperor to sit on the Griffin Throne of Gareth, Amene used the tumultuous times for the Middenrealm to declare herself Empress of the Resurgent Empire of Horasia. She took not only the title of Empress for herself, but also called herself Amene-Horas ever since, in direct continuation of the Bosparanian Emperors of old.

This move had been planned for years before Hal's disappearance, which many of her enemies within the Middenrealm see as proof that she had something to do with the emperor's disappearance. For years before she crowned herself, Amene negotiated with the rulers of the other Horasian kingdoms, gaining their trust and loyalty. She also managed to acquire a document, the Deed of Comto Ogman, which supposedly traces her lineage back to Emperor Silem-Horas and through him to the first mythical Horas. By doing so, she was able to claim the title of Horasian Empress by divine right, though the deed is by no means undisputed.

No matter the truth behind her lineage, Amene essentially formed Aventuria's second greatest empire in one night, establishing her new realm as a political rival to the Middenrealm and immediately becoming the dominant power in southern Aventuria. This on its own was already enough to earn her the love and loyalty of most of her subjects and her reign is considered to be a return to the golden age of the Bosparanian Empire.

Privately, the empress is an open-minded, sociable and highly intelligent woman. She surrounds herself with a lavish and extravagant court and places a lot of trust in powerful personal friends and advisers, which she chooses with the utmost caution. The powerful merchants of the empire support her, as do the lesser nobility, and she is a patron of the Church of Hesinde, but in return, her political rivals can be found among the more powerful noblemen and among the Church of Rondra, whose influence within her realm she has significantly decreased.

Her husband died young, leaving her a widow before the age of forty and with four children: Jaltek, Aldare, Salkya and Timor. After Jaltek was murdered by co-conspirators while scheming against his mother, Aldare is her designated heiress, though many of her subjects make no secret out of their desire to see the far more capable Timor as the great empress' successor. Even though few doubt that the empress has suffered greatly under the loss of her eldest son, she is not know for public displays of emotion and though seen as just and benevolent, she keeps her private thoughts and emotions to herself, which has helped with giving her an enigmatic reputation.



As the secondborn child of Amene-Horas, Princess Aldare was not supposed to inherit her mother's empire. Instead, she was drawn to Hesinde, the goddess of wisdom and magic. Her mother approved of her chosen profession and Aldare joined the Church of Hesinde in her early teens, first as a novice, but she quickly rose through the ranks and became a fully-fledged Priestess of Hesinde when she was barely an adult. Now barely thirty years old, she was already chosen to lead the Sisterhood of Mada, an influential humanitarian order within the Church of Hesinde.

The murder of her older brother Jaltek ruined her own ambitions to further ascend in the ranks of the church. Now the oldest living child of Amene-Horas, Aldare had to become her mother's crown princess and designated heiress. Inheriting her brother's barony of Aldyra, she had to learn all the courtly duties her mother had spared her in her childhood and had to adapt to a thoroughly demanding new role. Her position as Amene's heiress-apparent has also made her the most desired bachelorette in all Horasia, but so far, she has rejected anyone who ever asked for her hand.

It is no secret that Aldare has no passion for the work of a ruler, though she performs her duties admirably nonetheless. Shy and bookish, her true passion still lies with her church and she hasn't cut ties with her order. Still a Priestess of Hesinde, her duties to church and empire often conflict with each other. Aldare has a brilliant mind and is a quick learner, though she lacks the ruthlessness that is so crucial for Horasian politics, so her supporters can only hope that she will grow into the role her mother intends for her to have.



Decadent, pompous and a radical free thinker – those are just some terms commonly used to describe Timor Firdayon, Archduke of Chababia and youngest child of Amene-Horas. All of these are true and he would never deny them, but he would state that it doesn't quite paint a complete picture of him, for he is also one of the youngest and most accomplished noblemen in the empire, a position he earned due to his skill and not due to him being the son of the empress.

Timor earned his current title due to single-handedly destroying a conspiracy against his mother. The former Archduke of Chababia, Phrenos ay Oikaldiki, was the head of said conspiracy in an attempt to orchestrate the death of Amene-Horas and declare his independence from the Horasian Empire. It was Timor's spies who uncovered the plot and for his part in thwarting it, he was chosen to succeed the childless Phrenos as Archduke of Chababia.

That being said, to this day the rumours never quite died that Timor knew of the plot way before revealing it, that he even played with the idea of supporting it instead of thwarting it and that he secretly sympathizes with revolutionary sentiments among the smallfolk. The young Archduke moves against such rumours with utmost severity, decrying them as slander from his many enemies and yet, he never quite manages to shake off the talk about him being involved in schemes against his own mother.

There is little doubt that out of all of Amene's children, Timor is the most capable. He is a brilliant schemer, a charismatic negotiator and equal parts charming and ruthless, traits which his intelligent but bookish sister often lacks, but which are crucial for a ruler in Horasia. As such, there is significant support for him to become his mother's successor, following ancient Bosparanian laws where the throne was often given not to the oldest, but the most talented and suitable child. The cunning Archduke has not commented on these demands in public, instead obviously preferring to let others do the talking for him.



The current Sea King of Cyclopea is in many ways an extraordinary man. From an early age, he was groomed to rule over his island kingdom and quickly, he proved himself to be a capable sailor, excellent tactician and benevolent ruler, who was highly beloved by his people once he ascended to the throne as a young adult.

What makes him so exceptional is that he was born almost 120 years ago, back when the Cyclops Islands were still an independent kingdom, yet he doesn't look a day over thirty. His long life is by no means the result of elven blood, but instead that of an unfortunate accident during one of his many hunts. While pursuing his prey deep into the jagged mountains of Pailos, the king accidentally stepped into a portal to one of the fairy realms.

Though the king immediately realized the unfortunate situation he had put himself in, something unexpected happened. He laid eyes upon the dryad Trydeá and fell in love with her, a love she reciprocated. Even though he knew how unwise this would be, he remained with her for years within her realm, while outside, decades passed.

Many decades later, Cyclopean lumberjacks moved to cut down Trydeá's grove on Pailos, where Palamydas once stepped into the fairy realm. Sensing the disturbance to his beloved's grove, he decided to return to his kingdom, unaware how much time had truly passed. He returned into a thoroughly strange world, where his kingdom was no longer independent, but ruled over in personal union by Amene-Horas of the Horasian Empire.

After gathering his supporters on the isles, who rejoiced at the return of their king, few doubted his intention to march to war against the empress to regain his throne. However, Palamydas did something surprising: He travelled to Vinsalt on his own and knelt in front of Amene, requesting his throne and title back in exchange for his fealty as a vassal. Amene, realizing the support he held among the Cyclopeans, accepted his demands, making him king once more. Palamydas' second reign is still young, yet already he is trying to continue the success of his first reign as King of Cyclopea.



Though Amene-Horas is well-loved by the smallfolk and the lesser nobility, she has made significant enemies among the more powerful noblemen, whose influence she constantly tries to limit. Out of these, the fiercest and most powerful is without a doubt Kusmina Galahan, the Duchess of Kuslik and second-most powerful woman in Horasia after the empress herself.

In past centuries, the House of Galahan has ruled over all of Horasia as stewards of the Middenrealm and even though their members have vehemently opposed the House of Firdayon in their independence war, they have been allowed to remain the Dukes of Kuslik, becoming uneasy subjects of Amene-Horas' ancestors. The two houses have been bitter rivals ever since.

Kusmina is no exception here, though she is also the most capable and ruthless member of House Galahan in centuries. A regal woman and renowned beauty in her youth, she has aged with dignity and carries herself with the composure of a true duchess. She is also famously arrogant and haughty, a noblewoman through and through, who considers all commoners far beneath her and openly hates Amene-Horas for weakening the privileges the Horasian nobility had under her predecessors.

Under her reign, the House of Galahan has regained considerable power and allies, with many considering her almost as powerful as Amene-Horas. Furthermore, she has excellent ties to the Middenrealm through the betrothal of her eldest son and heir Romin to Invher ni Bennain, who is the sister-in-law of Prince Brin of Gareth and designated heiress of the Kingdom of Albernia.

As such, many believe that Kusmina will, at some point, make a move against her empress. The duchess herself does not entertain such rumours, but with the amount of animosity between her and Amene, it is clear that she needs only an opportunity, a moment of weakness to strike. In return, it is clear that Amene-Horas is also looking for any possible excuse to weaken the power of her influential rival and the tensions between the two women and their feuding houses could pose the greatest threat to the young empire.



The heartland of the Fair Field is the county of Marvinko, the most peaceful and prosperous region in an already peaceful and prosperous nation. It is ruled over by Croenar of Marvinko, a Landed Count whose power and privileges rival that of the most powerful dukes of Horasia. His title was specifically designed for him, in an attempt by the empress to combat the growing influence of her powerful ducal rivals. However, Croenar has never been one to show gratitude.

Many consider the Count of Marvinko yet another rival of Amene-Horas, though this would be not entirely true. Instead, Croenar is a rival to everyone of equal or higher rank, a compulsive schemer who constantly seeks to improve his own station. He worked with Amene-Horas to reduce the influence of the nobility, only to covertly support the claim of her eldest son for the throne. When her secret police closed in on him, Croenar cut ties with the other conspirators and saved his own status, but ever since, it has been an open secret that the count is by no means as loyal to the empress as he claims to be. It is a common rumour that the duke is involved in every single larger scheme in the empire, sometimes even on opposing sides simultaneously.

Croenar's influence is tremendous, his reach far and he has excellent contacts to foreign rulers, considering Duke Jast Gorsam of the North Marches, Sultan Hasrabal of Goria and even Amir Honak, the Patriarch of Al'Anfa, personal friends of his. In fact, he has more friends outside of Horasia than within its borders, with the powerful dukes envious of his privileges and the Horas herself at least suspicious of his latest schemes.

Privately, the Count is a surprisingly likeable man and excellent host, though he is also utterly ruthless, cunning and ambitious. He is also a deeply cautious man with the uncanny ability to survive any scheme formed against him. This has helped him with growing his own power and making sure that his family, foremost his three children, will inherit a great fortune after him.



Newcomers to the court of Vinsalt often make the mistake of overlooking one crucial member of Amene-Horas' inner circle. Amaldo Ravendoza is physically unassuming, being fairly short for a man, with an unremarkable face and no outstanding sense of style. As the Count of Yaquir Peaks, he is by no means a weak nobleman, but nothing compared to the dukes or landgraves who can be found around the empress. And yet, overlooking him is a critical mistake, for Ravendoza is quite likely the most important man in the entire empire.

The reclusive count is rarely seen in public and most of Horasia's commoners know him only as the man in charge of the empress' security forces, as well as the one responsible for the often draconic responses to any sort of protest within the empire. Any insurrections are met with brutal force, which has given the count a certain reputation among the smallfolk.

Behind that, however, he is also the Grandmaster of the Eagle Order and anyone with some knowledge about the inner workings of the empire knows that this makes him the most important administrator of the realm. The powerful Eagle Order consists of diplomats, justiciars and spies and it is said that Ravendoza is the best of them all in all three disciplines. His wide amount of duties would crush any lesser man, but Ravendoza has proven to be more than up to the task.

Overseeing the work of spies and diplomats, often both at once, as well as the various civil administrators of the empire requires utmost dedication and as such, Ravendoza is unmarried and without children. His duty is to his empire first, his empress second and he has fully accepted the sacrifices this requires. Though much of the empire's success is owed to Amene-Horas and her brilliant statesmanship, she herself has once admitted that she wouldn't have managed to do this without Ravendoza's support.



In the entire Horasian Empire, quite possibly even in all of Aventuria, there is no stranger nobleman than Shafir, the Lord of Khom's Watch. He is without any doubt the oldest, physically strongest and most knowledgeable member of Horasia's nobility, by virtue of being a fully grown Emperor Dragon, who gets his nickname from his truly magnificent golden scales.

Nearly two thousand years old, Shafir remembers the Bosparanian Empire in its greatest and in its lowest days. A contemporary of Fran-Horas and Hela-Horas, he knows first hand what horrors the Nether Hells can unleash upon Aventuria and though his stance towards the mortals of Aventuria is neutral at best, he is known as a staunch enemy of all things demonic.

No one knows what caused Shafir to leave his old home in the Rashtul Wall, but around four hundred years ago, he arrived at the High Eternans, the mountain range that separates Horasia from the Khom Desert. He occupied a massive cave near the strategically important Gate of Khabash, where he built his hoard. Ever since, the dragon seems to consider the area around the Gate of Khabash, the so-called Khom's Watch, to be his personal territory and no one is allowed to pass it without his consent. His reasons are entirely his own, but a common theory is that he simply enjoys the climate and the landscape of the High Eternans, as well as the occasional excitement his human neighbours provide.

In the early days of his occupation, the Horasians have tried to drive him away by force, though they quickly had to realize that violence is ill-advised against a flying near-invulnerable and fire-breathing monster with an estimated length of roughly forty feet. Outsmarting or flat out overpowering any opponent who challenged him, including several smaller members of his own species, he proved himself as the undisputed ruler of Khom's Watch in the end.

It didn't take long for the Horasians to realize that having an Emperor Dragon overlooking one of the few roads through the High Eternans can have its advantages. More than once, Shafir single-handedly held off raiders from the Khom Desert, sometimes even a fully blown invasion force. For this, he was officially named Lord of Khom's Watch in the year 940 after Bosparan's Fall, a title he now holds for almost sixty years.

Ever since, relations between the Horasians and Shafir have improved. The dragon has mostly accepted his western neighbours and seems to consider the humans of Khom's Watch to be his lawful subjects. He rules from his cave like a king rules from his castle, though he remains a dragon and therefore fundamentally prideful, stubborn and capricious. In exchange for a yearly tribute in the form of arcane artefacts for his hoard, he has sworn an oath to the Emperor of Horasia and occasionally receives visitors, who seek to benefit from his vast knowledge and intellect. Furthermore, the road through the High Eternals is perfectly safe for traders or travellers, as long as they can pay the road tax the dragon generously collects.

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Though their reputation as arrogant might be somewhat overblown, Horasian culture has, at least, a passion for grandeur and this becomes quite clear with their names. Many Horasian names are long and melodious, meant to convey status and wealth, even if its owner has neither of those. Consequently, while the Middenrealm has fairly strict rules against commoners including the 'of'-prefix in their name, reserving it solely for nobility, Horasian commoners are free to include a prefix in their name, often to make themselves sound more important than they truly are. In contrast, the nobility often chooses to reject such prefixes at all, which results in a fairly confusing mixture of names and prepositions, with few if any indicators if the wielder of any given name is of high birth or not.

To make matters even more confusing for foreigners, Horasians do not use the prefix 'of' in front of their last name, but instead they use a myriad of different words, all with the same meaning, some taken from Bosparanian titles, others hailing from more recent history. The most common ones are 'de' and 'di', but if their last name starts with a vowel, those prefixes are often changed to 'del' and 'dil' to sound more pleasant. 'Della' or 'delli' are not unheard of, the southern Horasians often use 'du', 'ay' or 'ash' in front of their last names, whereas the high society of Grangor traditionally uses a 'ter' as a prefix in front of their last name. The prefix 'ya' meanwhile is, for some obscure reason, reserved entirely for nobility, as well as studied warriors and scholars.

Horasian names take some inspiration from Italian names from our world, but it is not uncommon for some of their names to have their roots in other Aventurian cultures, though phonetically different to fit the Horasian tastes, often sounding softer and more melodious.

Examples for male Horasian names: Alricio, Boromir, Bosper, Delgado, Hesindiego, Horatio, Lessandro, Lucian, Marbio, Orsino, Rahjacomo, Reo, Sarastro, Timor, Zordan

Examples for female Horasian names: Adaque, Avessandra, Bellatrix, Dulcinea, Findualia, Gianna, Hesindora, Isabella, Kusmina, Lucrezia, Melisande, Mythraela, Phelicitas, Silvana, Yolande

Examples for Horasian last names: Anzani, Boccalino, Calavanti, Durazzo, Farfara, Gozzi, Mercator, Monte, Piccinino, Sandoval, Torese, Villani, Zubertin

A lot of Horasian names also take inspiration from the old Bosparanian names and there is a significant part of Horasian high society that prefers to outright give their children those old names. Bosparanian names are generally a bit harder than Horasian names, often archaic forms of names that became popular in other cultures later on, due to the size of the Bosparanian Empire this is not just limited to Horasia. Bosparanian names are inspired by Latin names. One curiosity is that few Bosparanian had actual last names, often only the nobility had dynasty names or last names referencing to their seat of power. Male names traditionally end with 'us' or 'an', female names traditionally end with 'a', with exceptions to this rule being very few and far between, though sometimes, especially the longer names were shortened, with the resulting nicknames being more popular than the full names. For example, the Bosparanian warlord and emperor Jelianus was commonly known as Jel and ascended to the throne as Jel-Horas.

Examples for male Bosparanian names: Asmodeus, Avenus, Balphemorius, Basilius, Caius, Florus, Fran, Geronus, Hydronius, Lucianus, Magnus, Quintus, Theodicus, Valerian, Xavierus

Examples for female Bosparanian names: Aurelia, Celestia, Cusmina, Flavia, Gyldara, Hela, Lavinia, Marcella, Octara, Rondriga, Septima, Thalia, Ucuriana, Vallusa, Yppolita

At last, the Cyclops Islands. Culturally distinct from Bosparan and Horasia, Cyclopea has kept a lot of traditions that were brought to Aventuria by the first settlers from Myranor. This is especially clear in their names, for Cyclopean names are almost entirely unchanged from traditional Myranian names, some of which are still in use on the far continent to this day. To the common Aventurian, Cyclopean names are difficult to pronounce, often needlessly complex and sometimes just plain odd. They take some inspiration from ancient greek names. Only the nobility has last names, whereas commoners usually use the prefix 'a', followed by their home island. The nobility meanwhile traditionally uses the prefix 'dyll' if the last name starts with a vowel or 'dylli' if it starts with a consonant.

Examples for male Cyclopean names: Alrikos, Amenelaos, Berytos, Dariyon, Efferdaios, Horakles, Kalchas, Meneander, Okeandros, Palamidas, Praiokles, Rondragoras, Thalanios, Xeledonios, Zephyros

Examples for female Cyclopean names: Arakne, Ariadne, Belenike, Ingerydike, Iolanthe, Korina, Menkirdes, Mira, Nemekathe, Phylinna, Praiope, Rahjadis, Thalassandra, Tsaedra, Yppodamea