Keldremad {Red Empire Splinter}

Territory: Keldremad controls most of the Psychic Isles and a fraction of the Dragina Empire's former holdings in Andriath, along with enclaves and colonies spread across the world. The capital city of Keldremad, Andalios, occupies most of a fairly large island off the north coast of Andriath.

Government: Keldremad is a meritocracy under Keldris Andaliun, the former Emerald Knight Templar. He has three High Advisors, one for each of the three spheres of governmental power; military, magical, and economic. The Military Advisor acts as commander of the mercenary forces Keldremad continues to hire out, as well as its law enforcement. The Magical Advisor acts as cheif educator and development minister for the myriad academies the Emerald Kingdom runs. The Economic Advisor manages the kingdom's production, loans, and trade. It is with this advisor that the true power of Keldremad lies; at orders from this Advisor's desk the farms of Andriath send food to the quarries of Valanthus in order to rebuild abandoned Dragina fortresses for use by the Ercian military in repayment for Deisach-forged weapons... the Economic Advisor is possibly the most well-informed person on the face of Fou Lu regarding the strengths, weaknesses, and alliances of the myriad new nations.

Population: Sixteen million people live within Keldremad's borders, breaking down to approximately 50% human, 10% elven, 18% dwarven, and 12% goblin, give or take a few percent.

Military: Keldremad’s military is divided primarily into the Green and Grey Legions. The Green Legions are the primary defensive force and control the Airfleet and Navy of Keldremad. The Airfleet relies mostly on the small mageships called “fireflies”, but has a few impressive Iron Mother class ships. The Navy is rather average, with only a few experimental ships salvaged from records of the Red Empire’s Weapons Project. The Grey Legions are professional soldiers that Keldremad hires out to those willing to pay, either as guards or as an offensive force.

History: The Seeker War shattered the great kingdoms of Deisach. Tergata, the point around which the Earth Continent revolved, was crushed. The independent city-states of the north were absorbed or razed. Duskwood itself was demolished, and for a time the Seeker Houses enforced a brutal peace.

Then Asmodean Nyruvial died, and with him died order.

The few kingdoms with extant armies, those that had immediately bowed to the Seekers, launched wars of expansion. Every kinglet dreamed of becoming the new Lord of Deisach. Every city dreamed of becoming the new Tergata. Every soldier dreamed of becoming the next great Hero.

Central Deisach became one massive, raging battle.

And then, in the wake of the Crimson Knight Templar's declaration that the Dragina Empire was his to rule, the Emerald Knight Templar decreed that the lands under his control were no longer the Dragina Empire's, but his. Moreover, that his new land would be a sanctuary for magi who did not seek war, but peaceful study. Sorcerors flocked to the Emerald Spire.

For three years, the War of Stone and Flame tore the remnants of Rein's dominion apart. Keldris' forces fought well, but in all cases were no match for Kristoff's soldiers in a direct battle. The Emerald Knight Templar fought to keep his old comrade's supply lines cut and his allies few, a strategy that worked well until the day Kristoff decided to abandon all pretense and simply destroy Keldris' power base.

The Battle of the Emerald Spire may not have been the greatest battle in those times; there was certainly plenty of competition. Sorcerous assault and mechanical trickery steadily depleted the Crimson Army's ranks until Kristoff decided to take matters into his own hands and attack Keldris himself. No witnesses survived that duel, but when the dust cleared, Keldris stood alone in the ruins of the Emerald Spire.

For five years, the Dzanatori Isles were near-silent as the ex-Templar cobbled together what he could from the wreckage of the once-mighty Empire. A new capitol was built north of Andriath, a new Spire rose at its heart, and at the end of those years the mage-kingdom of Keldremad was born.

And so Keldris Andaliun joined the game.

And what he did was sell.

The forges of Keldremad, stories say, did not cool for thirty years. First, Keldris sold his land to those who sought war, granting warriors land without bloodshed... land they would have to hold nonetheless. Next, he sold his armies' services; the mercenaries of the Emerald King systematically decimated the armies of the kingdoms nearest him, engulfing more than a few through debt and depopulation. This might have continued for years, but by 280 A.R another, more insidious route to power had appeared.

The Dwarves needed aid, magical and metallurgical, to rebuild the shattered continent.

New Dilosia needed raw material.

The resurgent Elves needed support.

Practically every single nation required aid in rebuilding.

Keldris had at his slender fingertips the majority of the Dragina Empire's industrial base, and the wizards who knew how to keep it working.

The Emerald King sold the fruits of his forges and academies to the world. And the world's wealth poured into his coffers in return.

Keldremad remains a small nation to this date; territory-wise, it is easily the smallest of the new empires. Some of its isles border the Dead Wastes of Deisach, some of its land holdings border resurgent kingdoms in Andriath, some of its assets face Ercian raiders, and everywhere it faces the resentment the world built up towards the Empire.

Keldris fears none of these. Every year, his acadamies produce new crops of magi. Every year, his coffers swell with loan repayments. Every year, his mercenary armies and the navies that move them grow larger.

Keldremad is a kingdom of gold and magic. The latter gives it sparkle. The former gives it power.

Culture: The three spheres dictate Keldrian life, with children raised to follow the path of their parents. Of course, the magical caste does not require its members to be magi, no more than the economic advisor requires its members to be merchants. Every mage needs his assistants and spies, every merchant his servants and suppliers, every soldier a farmer to feed him and a blacksmith to armor him; while the merchants, wizards, and soldiers may be the products of the three castes, the majority of each is devoted to the million other tasks that civilization entails. In theory, there are no impediments to changing spheres, but in reality a person who chooses to leave the caste he was born into faces extreme difficulty in establishing himself in another one without serious help from people within it.

Standard: The flag of Keldremad is a pair of crossed white staves on top of a concentric circle of alternating green and gold.

Advancements

Technological: Intermediate/Accomplished - The focus of the nation is magic, but it got its power from having a lot of Dragina technology left over, and it's put together a few basic advances, most notably in their advanced airships.

Magic: Extreme - A top power in the field of magical research and innovation. Keldrian mages have been known to be somewhat unstable, which means the innovation can come at a price.