Derendil
Territories: The center of Andriath. Derendil begins south of the Neftara River and ends on the southern shores of Sohar. It includes the old city Sha-Liden, and newer cities like Conopoco, just south of the Coral Rings. Several smaller towns above Sha-Liden also wave Derendil’s flag. The abandoned floating island Vheissu, left stranded after the Battle of the Apocalypse, has been reclaimed by this empire as well. It is now left chained dangling above what was once called Pharn.
Government: Twelve men, known as the Senate, rule the entire empire. Each of whom hold their own positions, including Trade, Law, and Sin. Although each Senator has many advisors and alliances, their voices are the only ones that matter, and the people listen. They gather in what they call the Hall, the longest building in Sha-Liden.
Population: Nearly 22 million people from edge to edge of the empire. Most of which (just more than 40%) are human. Elves (at 28%) are next, and then the Ogrin (at 22%). Dwarves and the abhor fill in the last 10%.
Military: They hold a dormant, strong army. Nearly 1.5 million soldiers are equally spread throughout Derendil. What keeps them strong are their ties in trade to other kingdoms, and their defenses. Cannons the size of entire houses look out toward the rest of Andriath, and their walls are beautiful from an architectural stand point. Huge metallic slabs cover them, and incredibly complicated gears rotate beneath metal, allowing the walls to rotate and move to wherever the Senate pleases.
The docks of each town are probably what keep them standing, though. Several hundred ships scatter along what was once the outer rim of Sohar, waiting. Although they lack the amount of airships of other empires of the world (with only two hundred, if that), they are still a magnificent site when inspected closely, focusing mostly on trade.
History: It is a dark one. One could say that it began with the shattering of the Winglie race. Most historians, however, would disagree with those statements. They would attribute the Plague of Sha-Liden. It was a thriving city-state, even after the destruction of the Winglies. They had a fair king, and were growing the respect of a small nation with other kingdoms of the world.
Nearly two hundred years after Rein left the world, the disease struck. The theory of its origins trail far into Fou Lu’s past. They start at the Cosmologist’s Tower, at the time when the Seekers took control. Although it was never documented, some say that an entire carriage full of vials, much of which were necromantic, fled as it was being taken over.
Through the branches of time, a vial went missing. It somehow ended up in the hands of an amateur mage on the outskirts of Sha-Liden. And with most evil sorcery, a sudden need for power breaks the mage from the inside. He experimented with the vial, first with plant-life and then with livestock. The magic soon consumed him and his body before he could attempt to fight it.
The disease spread like wildfire through cattle meat. Farmers brought their product to Sha-Liden, not knowing of what was spreading within. They were the first to fall, being that their hands are what slaughtered the livestock. Then it spread equally through the rich and the poor, from rotting scraps to finely cooked steak. Just the exposure of the meat meant that it was likely to catch the disease. It was an all-encompassing, devastating blow to the city.
Other cities, such as Balorin and Mernath –even Farinthia, who was at this point in time a “city which didn’t actually exist”- eventually sent emissaries, and then only several scouts out to the silent Sha-Liden. What they found was a city of decay. And preventing it from spreading, they pushed the people south of their city, to the once towering Sohar Nation. The Balorinians then built a great wall, separating and isolating them from all other societies.
On a land that was deader than their people, they were forced to rebuild. They focused on mining and fishing, eventually forming a primitive colony. They suffered through the disease while living under old scraps of warships. Asmodean Nyruviel’s statue was even used as a way of protection. These were dark times.
But at the edge of absolute fear, a revolution came.
A small, unknown group called the Machinists came out from the carcasses. They, at first, focused on ways to live and operate in Fou Lu without the means of magic, stemming quickly into simple mechanisms and other technologies, including even medicine. Their leader, Preliot Red, spoke to the surviving men and women of Sha-Liden and told them that he had a cure for their suffering. It was the first the people had heard of any treatments, and being at their last threads, they accepted whatever he had to say.
The Machinists, who were mainly formed from carpenters who were now miners, supplied them with metal and tools to contribute as much as they possibly could toward the rebuilding.
The Machinists, led by Preliot Red, released a white gas that fogged the entire city for a month. It smelled of nothing, but so richly of nothing that everything else was denied a scent. For those still living, it was a blessing. After it had faded away in the ocean winds, the people began to peek their heads out of their houses again. They saw that no one was rotting. Even the stacks of bodies were gone.
Things were better again. They then looked toward Preliot Red for guidance, but he had none to give. He was a tinkerer of sorts, and nothing more. He had no political experience, nor a drive to guide these people into some sort of spiritual salvation. But his first assistant, Ihr Derendil, did.
He was once a Farinthian, and a lifetime mentor to the last queen, Queen Rose IX. Ihr, only several days after the queen’s death of natural causes, he left to Sha-Liden, hoping to find a place where he can simply forget of his past. There he found Preliot Red, and discovered Preliot’s first mechanisms, like a machine that told the time of day. During the revolution, he proposed the idea of starting anew. Sha-Liden was going to be rebuilt, he promised, but things were going to change before that could happen.
He spoke of what he believed started the plague. “Magic, my friends! Magic is what brought us this evil. We are not the ones who should be using its wonders. Leave it to the Gods, and your life will be full of solace.”
The survivors began to claim territory over the dead lands of Sohar with much needed help of the Machinists and their mechanisms and gears. Preliot Red, wanting to learn so much more, left the small village of Conopoco on his sixty-second birthday and ventured out to the rest of the world with his ideas. Ihr Derendil stayed… and built an empire at his feet.
With technology, everything around him grew at a rapid pace. An entire thriving kingdom in less than two hundred years was built, and now stands, covering much of Andriath. Rather than be spiteful toward the cities beyond their borders for the seclusion, they continued to build, proving themselves more than worthy through their accomplishments.
Both Ihr and Preliot passed away with their human lives, but their radical ways of thinking were passed on through their children and their children’s children.
Culture: It is as if rules were put out in front of the people, and they embraced them. Free worship of any religion is allowed, and supported openly. The people of Derendil are generally open minded when it comes to new ideas and theories of religion and the Gods, although one golden rule must be followed: There is to be no magic. They are firm believers that the use of magic is blasphemous, and only the Gods and their denizens can manipulate it. Magic is as holy to these people as the Realms, and none wish to cross those lines. It is completely outlawed in Derendil. However, they do not look down upon those who use magic around the world. They are easy to forgive, but not especially eager to anger the Gods.
Because of their complete lack of magic, they have embraced technology to a full extent. Much of the kingdom is made of gears and metal. Simple mechanics are what keep the empire running. Derendil is easily the technology power-house of the world today. New ideas, machines, and even weapons have stemmed from the core of the empire.
Much of the kingdom is of the Water Element, but in recent decades it has become a mixing pot of many races and elemental alliances, because of their radical way of thinking.
Advancements:
Magical – None.
Technological – Extreme
Major Achievements – Trains, cannons, simple forms of electricity, gears, medicine, and guns.
