Post by Valen Storyteller on Feb 27, 2016 4:08:23 GMT
Territory: Much of central and eastern Faytan (28 land hexes, 1 sea hex);
Language: Common, Samaran;
Religion: Sera. Other members of the Triumvirate tolerated;
Demonym: Essen;
Government: Theocracy;
Population: 1.9 million;
Demographics: 90% Human, 3% Half-Elves, Others 7%.
Escathon is a little-known nation. Tucked away at the eastern corner of Faytan, it is poorly connected with most other nations, and has no interest in trade or diplomacy, visitors from other nations are seen with suspicion and usually turned away with a stern warning. Although their territory is fairly vast, the nation is nonetheless largely unknown to outsiders, and among those few who know of the nation or have visited it, many contend that it is more a nation-sized armed camp and temple, as opposed to a real nation.
When demons poured into Sammarach and sacked the capital of the Samaran Empire, the densely-populated region to its northwest almost immediately fell to complete anarchy. For nearly a millennium, the region had been ruled over by Samaran governors sent from the Empire’s heartland, and the region was economically and culturally dependent on the Empire. It’s absence, and the absolute horror of the stories brought by refugees was more than enough to bring the region far past the point of civilization. No doubt, this was precisely as the fiends intended, and they would likely have surged over the entire region, and continued to Faytan’s northern shore with little resistance.
One of the rarest events in Eos’ history prevented that: Sera intervened. The goddess, famous for her unwillingness to directly affect the mundane world, deigned to send two of her champions to the chaos-stricken region. The two outsiders quickly ended the anarchy, establishing in its place a stable government whose only real purpose was to give the region the strength to stem the tide of the fiends. Both of those champions are gone now, but the seeds they sowed have bloomed into one of the world’s most absolute theocracies.
Rulership in Escathon is by divine right. Those blessed by Sera with divine magic invariably rise to the highest ranks, and the internal disputes of the nation are matters not of politics, but theology. Though divisions exist and jockeying for position within the clergy is often cut-throat, from the outside the holy orders of Sera maintain a monolithic, unshakable face.
Escathon is a nation in permanent holy war, and this state permeates every part of their society, leaving it almost totally militarized. For the typical subject of the nation, there is no clear line between religion, politics and family. They apply a frightening religious fervor to the art of war, and are remarkably thorough in training: almost every person in the nation is trained from childhood in combat, from hand-to-hand combat to small-unit tactics. The rulers of Escathon feel comfortable demanding large levies of soldiers from any town in the nation, confident that even people chosen completely at random from the population will be combatants as skilled as the professional soldiers of another nation, if not more. With valor in combat being the only means of social ascension for those without divine magic, citizens are usually eager for the service and entire towns would volunteer if allowed.
Language: Common, Samaran;
Religion: Sera. Other members of the Triumvirate tolerated;
Demonym: Essen;
Government: Theocracy;
Population: 1.9 million;
Demographics: 90% Human, 3% Half-Elves, Others 7%.
Escathon is a little-known nation. Tucked away at the eastern corner of Faytan, it is poorly connected with most other nations, and has no interest in trade or diplomacy, visitors from other nations are seen with suspicion and usually turned away with a stern warning. Although their territory is fairly vast, the nation is nonetheless largely unknown to outsiders, and among those few who know of the nation or have visited it, many contend that it is more a nation-sized armed camp and temple, as opposed to a real nation.
When demons poured into Sammarach and sacked the capital of the Samaran Empire, the densely-populated region to its northwest almost immediately fell to complete anarchy. For nearly a millennium, the region had been ruled over by Samaran governors sent from the Empire’s heartland, and the region was economically and culturally dependent on the Empire. It’s absence, and the absolute horror of the stories brought by refugees was more than enough to bring the region far past the point of civilization. No doubt, this was precisely as the fiends intended, and they would likely have surged over the entire region, and continued to Faytan’s northern shore with little resistance.
One of the rarest events in Eos’ history prevented that: Sera intervened. The goddess, famous for her unwillingness to directly affect the mundane world, deigned to send two of her champions to the chaos-stricken region. The two outsiders quickly ended the anarchy, establishing in its place a stable government whose only real purpose was to give the region the strength to stem the tide of the fiends. Both of those champions are gone now, but the seeds they sowed have bloomed into one of the world’s most absolute theocracies.
Rulership in Escathon is by divine right. Those blessed by Sera with divine magic invariably rise to the highest ranks, and the internal disputes of the nation are matters not of politics, but theology. Though divisions exist and jockeying for position within the clergy is often cut-throat, from the outside the holy orders of Sera maintain a monolithic, unshakable face.
Escathon is a nation in permanent holy war, and this state permeates every part of their society, leaving it almost totally militarized. For the typical subject of the nation, there is no clear line between religion, politics and family. They apply a frightening religious fervor to the art of war, and are remarkably thorough in training: almost every person in the nation is trained from childhood in combat, from hand-to-hand combat to small-unit tactics. The rulers of Escathon feel comfortable demanding large levies of soldiers from any town in the nation, confident that even people chosen completely at random from the population will be combatants as skilled as the professional soldiers of another nation, if not more. With valor in combat being the only means of social ascension for those without divine magic, citizens are usually eager for the service and entire towns would volunteer if allowed.