ERIC LOOK HERE

[Rosko]

The Unknown
I am the unknown. I am what you have yet to understand. All of what I know you will learn in time. Read the passages I have left for you and you will understand much more of this world in which we exist in. We may speak again in the future. Don’t try to contact me for if I have need of you within this world, I will find you. Pleasant Travels within the world of .

The Beginning
The world started out as nothing more then a barren wasteland. Scattered across this wasteland were hundreds of tribes of men. The tribes fought with each other constantly, each trying to get enough food to survive for a little longer. How long the world was like this is unknown. The only thing that is known is that at some point, a little more than a thousand years ago, the greatest happening of this world occurred

What happened at this point was never really explained. All that is known is that six prophets came out of the wasteland to the tribes. Each of the prophets taught of their element unknowing of the other five prophets in existence. The six were, Gruldw who taught of death, Ignatius who taught of fire, Aleron who taught of the air and wind, Kesha who taught of the forests and nature, Siayanda who taught of life, and Dax who taught of the waters. Not only did they teach of the element, all of them were extremely skilled with use of magic over this element. The explained part of this was that magic was unknown to the tribes of the land and where exactly these prophets came from. All that is known is that as their fame grew they became increasingly more aware of the other prophets to the point where they were competing for followers. They made promises of great lands built from their element for the people to live in if they were to follow them. As each of the prophets made these promises, they became less affective in attracting more tribes. The tribes were still starving on their barren land and their faith in the prophets slowly started to fade. The prophets not wanting to lose their followers kept to their promise, corrupting the very lands about them to their element. Each with its benefits and drawbacks. The tribes flocked to these lands and soon nations were formed within them, and the prophets were looked at as gods. The nations were Elghinn, death nation, Chath, fire nation, Makan, air nation, Akamu, earth nation, Niar, water nation, and Loff’ta, life nation. The formation of the nations only made the tension between the gods more fierce and it would only be a matter of time before war broke out

Gruldw would be the first to go to war. He allied himself with Ignatius and the two together attacked Niar, capturing all the mainland ports of the nation. Leaving the islands, they controlled and their capital alone for the time. Most figured their next target to be Makan, but for some reason war was no declared on Makan which was positioned very close to both Elghinn and Chath. Instead the forces were split, hoping to catch both Akamu and Loff’ta by surprise. Gruldw took an army of both fire and death soldiers toward Loff’ta while Ignatius took a similar army into the jungles of Akamu. The armies under Gruldw met with the armies of life outside their land in neutral territory. A great battle followed, in which Gruldw’s army began to take the advantage in as the armies of life began to fall back. It wasn’t until reinforcements came from Niar that this army was pushed back. Hoping their ally faired better in Akamu, Gruldw moved back into one of the port cities of Niar with his entire army. Meanwhile, in Akamu, Ignatius was having much greater problems. He had pushed his troops into the nation of Earth only to be met by ambushes from all sides. They barely ever saw their enemy who hid within the trees, firing arrows. They were extremely affective and very few soldiers escaped, Ignatius not being one. No one is sure when exactly he fell or where, but he would be the first of the gods to die.

The news came to Gruldw, who decided that it would be better to quit no, knowing that he could not stand against all three armies on his own he retreated all his armies back to Elghinn. Most of the armies of fire that were still under him disbanded, though some remained under the banner of Elghinn. The other gods did not want Gruldw to get off that easy for starting such a war. Wanting him to be punished they brought an army to Elghinn made up of those from Akamu, Loff’ta, and Niar. The battle that ensued remains one of the bloodiest in the history of the world, as the single army of death tried to withstand the armies from three separate nations. The battle may have been lost for them if it had not been for Aleron and the armies of air who came up behind the allied forces crushing them. What started out as a battle turned into a slaughter as the armies under the three allied nations struggled to escape their new opponent from the rear. Most were unsuccessful including two of the gods. Siyanda and Dax laid dead by the end of the battle. Leaving only three of the gods alive. No one is quite sure how Kesha escaped the battle. She was a target for all the soldiers at the battle, but yet she escaped and the majority of the survivors of the battle were Akamu. Though they had endured great losses just like the rest. Many believe that Gruldw and Kesha had some kind of relationship and that Gruldw had let her and her army escape. This was never confirmed before they were both killed.

Out of this battle came the news that Aleron and Gruldw were extremely close friends, at least for now they were. Also news came from Chath that a man had supposedly had a dream of Ignatius telling him to go to the temple, where he was given the powers of Ignatius. The people of Chath believed him and he gained followers. Eventually this happened at all the godless nations. It was learned though that they were not nearly as powerful as the originals, in fact they held no more power then a normal man but held the title that controlled the nation. This fact was learned when the god of Niar challenged Aleron to a duel as he blamed him for the death of Dax. This new god lasted only a few seconds against the great power of Aleron.

The next event to occur is still shrouded in great mystery, as everyone knew of Gruldw and Aleron’s great friendship, yet Gruldw and Kesha joined together and led an army up the great mountain of Makan. They believed that Kesha was able to get inside Gruldw’s head and turn him against his friend which also pointed toward the fact that they had some kind of relationship, but that was never confirmed. The combined armies pushed up the mountain of Makan until they reach the blizzard-covered caps of the mountain where they had enough difficulties moving let alone spot their enemy’s ambushes through the constant blizzards. The armies were scattered and many of the soldiers froze to death trying to escape the mountain, Gruldw being killed during one of the ambushes. Kesha did escape the mountain and reformed part of her army to move back to her jungle. She had an army of Aleron’s following her but unknown to her, an army of fire moved to block her escape. She really didn’t have a chance with the small force she had but fought anyway and was killed in the battle. Aleron was infuriated and moved his armies in Akamu learning the same lesson that Ignatius had many years before as he could not even prepare for the arrows that flew from trees, easily killing his soldiers and keeping him from escaping that jungle. He fell there with the entire army he had brought

and thus died the last of the original gods.

The Great War

Most of what happened in the years separating the original gods and this time is unknown. As most of the written records, were lost during this great war. History had named this war “The Great War” and it is truly the only way to describe what happened. There cannot be just one event that caused this war, as it was caused by a series of events that put one man in power who would seek to change the world and he would be successful in changing the world though he would never succeed in making it exactly what he wanted it to be. The story of this war does not begin with him though, rather a few others.

It all started in Akamu where a man used assassins to attack and kill the current god of the nation as well with the person he figured would be placed in power. They succeeded in killing the god of earth but not the man whom he figured was next in line, a soldier known as Strega. This man wanted to place himself in power of Akamu and he figured if he killed all those that would take the place before him he would be granted it. With Strega surviving the attack, his plans were foiled. He changed them as he went to hunt down Strega with the army he had built up. Strega quickly gathered followers of his own but they were no where near the strength of his foe’s. He then looked for help in other nations, and found it in an unlike place. Elghinn had given orders to send a relief force to Strega under the command of General Rosko. Unknown to Rosko another army was sent from Elghinn, which was more of insurance policy for Elghinn. This army aided the other side of the civil war. The politicians of the Elghinn figured that whatever army one, they still would have an extreme amount of influence with that side and could ultimately control Akamu at the end of the war. As the war raged on in the nation of earth. To everyone’s surprise a woman had a vision for Kesha who told her of her destiny as the goddess. This woman was known as Luthien. With the aid of Rosko and Strega, they were able to bring her to the temple and get the control of the nation for her, with this help their enemy posed no threat.

As the nation of Elghinn tried to come in control over Akamu, unknowing that a goddess was now in place, it only infuriated the people of Akamu. Not only that but the soldiers of Elghinn who had aided Strega was angry with their own government for pitting them against their own nation. Thus, war broke out between the two nations. Rosko lead the army into Elghinn and kill the god of the time, but there was no god to take his place and thus Elghinn was left leaderless. Rosko assumed control but without being named god, it was difficult for him to do so. Elghinn remained in a sort of chaos for a time as Akamu was left to rebuild itself. Now it was know that Luthien, goddess of earth, and Rosko had fallen in love which made people of the nation question his intentions within Elghinn. On top of their suspicions, it came out that Rosko wasn’t born in Elghinn, in fact he had grown up in Loff’ta. These facts made the people of the nation shun him and ultimately run him from their country, at which point he moved to Akamu leaving Elghinn to fall into chaos without a leader.

A chaos continues in Elghinn, a man emerged known as Ceibe in Chath claiming that he could live out what Ignatius really meant for the people of fire. He spoke of the destruction of the other nations and enslaving of their people. He gained a lot of support from not only Chath, but Elghinn as well. He wanted to try what was already tried in Akamu, so he sent an assassin after the current god. The assassin was successful. Now Ceibe didn’t believe he would become god, but he figured he could corrupt whoever did to his thinking. To his amazement though, Ignatius came to him in a dream, Ignatius gave him control over Chath and it would seen if he could really pull off destroying the rest of the nations. Ceibe rose to power with his two main followers, Aradia, who he would marry, and Faye. Both of them had been born in the nation of Makan and both were corrupted by the words of power and protection of Ceibe. Though Faye joined with him more out of fear, she would become the far more famous of the two.

Not long after Ceibe had taken his position of god of fire, a new god took his place within Elghinn. Ceibe knowing he would need an ally, and also knowing that he already had some influence within the nation of death it would be easy to get this new god, Thanos, on his side. Thanos was a very shy figure which made him easy to corrupt, but made him a horrible leader. Ceibe wanted insurance that he would remain on his side and thus had Faye marry him to ensure their alliance. Faye would end up being the one with all the control within Elghinn as Thanos slowly slid out of the picture and Faye grew to control all of the death nation and Ceibe controlled both of these dark nations. He knew it was time for him to start this great war.

Their first target was the nation of Makan, which was caught completely off guard as the armies were led by Faye and Aradia, who knew this land well. Makan did not last long at all and the god of the country was imprisoned to ensure that no other took him place. Ceibe destroy several cities on his way to their capital and slaughtered hundreds of soldiers and civilians but for some reason left the capital in tact. He had planned to burn that in the future but for the time he wanted to make sure that he didn’t have a use of such a city.

Next he moved onto Niar, and took their mainland port cities with ease. At the same time he commissioned hundreds of pirates to start hitting Niar ships across the waters. With all the pirates in the water, the Niar navy had to pull around their floating capital to protect it, leaving their islands to fall to Ceibe’s armies. Niar was the only nation with a navy, as it is only one of two nations with coastlines. The other being Elghinn, who only uses it for pirates. Ceibe would not be defeated by such a navy though and planned how to destroy it. He imported took large quantities of gunpowder out of Chath and built hundreds of boats in the occupied ports. He then filled these boats with the gunpowder leaving only one without, which was his flagship. Bringing only his most trusted upon it, they sailed out with a navy of explosive ships behind them which Faye controlled using the wind around her, which she was adept at doing. Whenever they came close to the floating capital surrounded by the enormous navy, the water currents began to change as water mages tried to keep the explosive boats away from their capital and they were affective. They would have save it, if it hadn’t been for one of the greatest feats ever accomplished by an air mage. Faye after hours of meditation lifted the entire navy they built out of the water and flew them into the Niar navy an right next to their capital. The rest was easy as Ceibe had a man fire a flaming arrow into the ships, creating an explosion that shook the entire world and destroyed the entire fleet and killing every last person in their capital. Though there still is a skeleton of the original capital that still floats about. Thus Niar had been defeated and Faye had gained the nickname, “The mistress of death,” Even though she couldn’t even wield a sword. She was beloved back in Elghinn and in Chath as was Ceibe.

Their next target was Akamu and the goddess Luthien, who has since married Rosko. They marched into the jungles of Akamu and withstood the ambushes that had destroyed every other army to enter this jungle before. They had made their march straight to the capital and the battle was well in the favor of Ceibe. Ceibe along with Faye and Aradia moved into the temple of earth to kill Luthien. They were met by her bodyguards who were led by Rosko and Strega. As a fight between the soldiers behind Ceibe and her bodyguards broke out, Strega killed Faye and Aradia. At the same time Ceibe finished off Rosko. He turned to Strega in a fit of rage and beat him very close to death. Just before he killed him though his anger turned to tears as he thought more on the only people he cared about dead next to him and in one of the greatest surprises in history, he took his own life showing that even the darkest of men have hearts, but also leaving the war to Thanos who was unsuccessful in killing Strega and Luthien, who escaped to Loff’ta, he then failed again attacking the nation of life and would eventually his army would be pushed back to Elghinn bringing an end to such a great war.

[Rosko]

Elghinn

Landscape
Without knowing where you are, or ever being within the death nation before. You could easily tell this land apart from the rest. The ground is blackened from death. There is very little vegetation, and the few plants you find seem dead themselves as if they have been rotting there for an eternity. It is a very rocky landscape as well making it very difficult to navigate unless on foot, which still can be a little difficult. This is only one more reason horses are very rarely seen within the death nation. This also causes problems for traders who try to move carriages into the nation to sell their goods. Apart from the rocky terrain, the land is mostly flat with various hills about, but nothing too drastic. If it wasn’t for the great darkness that seems to loom over this land, one could see for miles. The death nation has a small coastline, being one of only two nations that have one at all. It’s coast is a frequent victim of violent storms and is a challenge for even the best sailors to navigate through death nation waters. People believe these storms are the only thing stopping Niar from taking the death nation ports.

Culture
Elghinn is a nation of death, through and through. With cities that look like giant fortresses in the night. It is filled with the warriors of the world, but at the same time the greatest warriors to every walk the land. From a very young age, everyone is taught to at least wield a weapon from girl to boy, to women to man all are adept warriors without ever spending time within the army. This only adds to the fact that Elghinn is not the safest place for outsiders, for even a small child would prove a difficult opponent for an untrained foreigner. A child is usually the least of your problems though, as most of Elghinn only know how to fight for their own protection as Elghinn is filled with some of the darkest men. It is not uncommon to see a person being beaten in a back alley, nor is it uncommon to find a body lying within the streets. In fact these are very common sight within the nation of death, along with several fights that break out within the streets. These fights are usually shows for the passerby who happily stop to watch two men fight to the death. It is a very unkind environment to live in, but this is exactly how the people of the nation like it. You must be able to fend for yourself in their mind, and anyone who can’t fight for themselves or hold their own within a fight deserves whatever dishonorable death is brought to them.

The entire nation strives off an odd sense of honor. This honor says that one must be able to fend for themselves, most of this sense of honor is interpreted differently by people within the nation but all of it comes to the same end. Unable to follow this honor will lead to a dishonorable death, which is the worst thing that can happen to a person who believes in this code, because all that follow this code are after one thing, an honorable death. Which is dying with a sword hand and the fight still in the heart. There is truly no dishonor in defeat, but rather in how one accepts defeat.

All the fights and killings in the nation are illegal of course, along with most of the killing that happens within the nation, but either no soldiers are present at the time or the soldiers are too caught up in the fight to stop it. Soldiers hold an odd role within the nation, as most would assume they are ignored in the nation as they are usually outnumbered by those who wish for the fight to continue, and those within the fight, but quite the opposite is true. In fact soldiers are extremely respected within the nation and are very rarely questioned. This isn’t that hard to believe though whenever you look at what soldiers do, they fight for the honor of the nation which for the people of the nation is of the most importance, as they view honor to be everything, the honor of the nation is far more important then any grudge they have thus leaving those who fight for this honor a great deal of respect within the streets of the nation.


For many different reasons, people of this nation have the shortest life spans. Most die earlier on in life my a sword of another in the nation, or within the army by some enemy nation. Also any sign a weakness is looked down on. So whenever a person begins to age, if he lives that long, he will usually take his own life, or fight one of the younger members of his family to the death in hopes that he can give himself and honorable death before ever showing the signs of old age as it would be frowned on. This ritual brings takes several years off the lives of all the citizens as none will ever make it to old age.

Elghinn has also been found to be very active within the slave trade. Most wouldn’t be surprised to know that slavers travel the entire world gather slaves for this country. Slaves are treated differently depending on which nation they come from. A slave from Chath for example, usually would have the job of watching over other slaves, while one of Loff’ta would be beaten just for the fun of it. The more hated the nation is, the more torture the slaves of the nation are put through. In fact male slaves from Chath have more rights then the women of Elghinn, on many occasions. Women within Elghinn really have no say and are treated much like slaves. Men will often have several wives as they are a sign of power, just as slaves and property are. Which makes what Faye had done within that nation even more amazing, at the time she had come to power, few would listen to her, but yet she still controlled the armies over her husband and thus is the only women to have a statue built of her. In fact she is the only non-God to have a statue built within the entire city of Elghinn, with her magnificent statue gracing the northern entrance of the dark capital of Elghinn. She is the only woman whoever had the respect of the men of the nation, and she still holds their respect to this day even though she died long ago.


Army
The army of Elghinn is the most feared within all the nations. It has the best soldiers within the land, all fighting under one banner, and is a threat for even the greatest of generals. This army is built upon a dark sense of honor, just as its entire nation is, that you must fight and die on the battlefield, staring your opponent in the eyes as he gives the killing blow. This only makes their soldiers even more fierce has they do not often back down once in a fight, and makes it hard to break the spirits of the soldiers. They were bred to kill.

The army fights in very loose formations, relying on the strength and skill on the individual soldiers instead of the army as a whole. They also have one of the smallest armies of all the nations. This is to the great thrill of the others for if their army was any larger, few would be able to stand against them in the open fields. The army lacks any real cavalry units, with their commanders being the only ones on horseback. They do not employ many siege weapons either. These two facts are due to the extremely rocky ground of Elghinn, it would be extremely difficult to move either across the land.

The army is made mainly up of swordsmen, using a variety of weapons in the fight. There are not many archers within their ranks, as it is looked on by the people of the nation as not facing your enemy, but rather hiding behind the ranks of your fellow soldiers. The leaders of the nation understand the need for more archers and strive to get more to join the ranks of archers but it has been quite unsuccessful thus far, at least. The swordsman though, tend to use smaller blades that they can move around faster. They barely ever use shields nor is their armor very thick. They are left with the joints open as to free up movement for they are finesse soldiers for the most part though there are a few brutes among them, a great misconception is that women are not within the army. They join with the army just as men do and with the same numbers usually, though one would not be able to tell the difference upon the battlefield. This is what make up the most powerful army in the land.

Racial Traits(most likely being taken out)

Politics(will only show what the current relation is with other nations)

[Rosko]

Chath

Landscape
As a person begins their journey through the nation of fire, they will start by crossing through the great northern wall of Chath. One of the greatest constructions, this wall spans their entire northern border and protects them from all attacks. As move past the wall they will most notably enter a vast desert that seems to stretch on for miles, and indeed it does. There is absolutely no life in this desert. Not even the smallest of creature exist because of the one fact, there is no water to be found anywhere in the desert. It is just a wasteland, that a few army outposts are placed upon the sand. If one is able to find their way through this treacherous desert, and its deadly sandstorms and large bandit groups. They will find themselves upon the rocky rear of the nation. This is where all of the people live and all the cities of the nation exist. It is at the base of several mountains, the mountains are filled with minerals that are mined regularly, the most notable is the material to make gunpowder with.

Culture
Chath is most likely the worst nation for a citizen to live in. The people of the nation are treated much like slaves, forced to mine the mountains to their south. Many have sold their children into slavery knowing that they are better off being a slave in Elghinn then a civilian in Chath. The people are poor and work hard every single day of their lives, making them have very short life spans. It is not the life any one would wish for, but for the people of this nation it is what they have come to know and have had to live with. The only way to ever move up and out of the back breaking work is to somehow gain the trust of a higher up. The intense heat that comes from the inside of the mines does not help either to make this an easier job, for the entire nation is much hotter then any other nation could be close to on their hottest day. Every person is required to join the military for a time right whenever they come of age. They must remain in it for a certain period of time, and then if they have proven themselves are asked to remain in the army. No one chooses whether they want to be part of the army, it is forced upon them. Fighting in it is a great honor, not only that but it keeps a person from the intense work that they would be doing otherwise.

Many people will run from their work, and either join with bandit groups that plague the desert or they will run to another nation, mainly Elghinn but many have gone across the world. Akamu has in fact been trying to appeal to those running from Chath rule so they can hire them to help fight the Nuijens whose only weakness is fire. They figure the people of fire would be best to fend them off. Also each person they recruit has military experience and could be used by the nation itself in a war against Chath if a war were to happen between the two in the future. Who would know their military better, nor who would hate them more then a person who ran from the rule of the tyrants who exist there. Other nations have started to catch on to this as well knowing that not only will Chath soldiers know a lot about the army of fire, but with how close Chath and Elghinn are, they may also give insight into the workings of the death army.

Looking back to the running of the country, the further up a person moves in society the less work they need to do, but the more money they gain. This is the only real nation that the God has full control over what happens in his country. No one questions the god here, they try to persuade them to his side, but have no real power to convince him other wise. Even whenever a person higher in society enters into the military they are given command positions. No other person will gain such a position unless they show extreme leadership in him. Whenever promoted in the military it is also a promotion within society, so if that person were ever reentered into society away from the military, he would hold the place of one of command and would not be in the mines. This is why most people find the military the most important part of their lives. It is the only way to escape the hardships of the future.


Army
Chath has by far the largest army in the world. This is because every single person is required to spend a time in the military. The soldiers are not nearly as well trained as the rest in the world, and would lose to an Akamu ranger in the open field. Their extreme numbers counter this though and have won them many battles in their time. Not only this but their close relationship with Elghinn has also gained them several advantages upon the battlefield. Many believe that if somehow they could break up the two nations, Chath would have been destroyed long ago, but that will forever be a ‘what if’ of the nation. Chath’s ability to always be able to throw more bodies onto the battlefield is discouraging for other nations trying to fight them. No matter how many they kill there are more soldiers waiting to replace them. Slowly the Chath armies will wear down even the strongest enemy and defeat them. Chath also employs some tactics that would be frowned upon in the other nations. They have no concern for the lives of their men, especially the recruit units and will throw them into battle as decoys, or sometimes just to slow an enemy’s advance. This has often put a black mark on their commanders, who are mocked by the other nations. Whenever another nation captures one of Chath’s commanders, he is usually dealt with almost like a criminal. They are hated in the other nations for their tactics.

The other thing that the Chath military is known for is it’s siege technology. Since they started making gunpowder they have dominated the siege equipment, creating the greatest weapons. Cannons that can bring down thick walls with very few shots, compared to a catapult which would spend a day of constant shooting just to begin to crumble the wall. These cannons have been found to be extremely unstable, but none the less are extremely powerful. They employ them in any sort of battlefield, whether to destroy a wall or clean out some enemy troops they are always affective. Scientists are still working on a way to give this equipment to soldiers to carry onto the battlefield, but as of now nothing has been created. They believe that whenever such a technology is created then their armies will control the world.

Chath has proven to be one of the hardest nations to invade. There are three main reasons for this. The first is the great northern wall, which is lined with archers and cannons alike. No army has ever penetrated this wall, and it is believe that none ever shall. There is a way around it though. If one were to go through Elghinn and into their western border. The next reason that Chath would be such a hard nation to conquer is the great desert. Most armies would lose the majority of their armies in it from thirst. The ones who would make it through would be extremely weak and fatigued. The last reason that Chath is so hard to conquer is that every citizen has military experience. Meaning that if need be. The nation can call all of the civilians to arms and they will fight just as hard as the normal soldiers and they will fight to the last man. For any army to conquer Chath, they would have to kill every last person in the nation.

Racial Traits

Politics

[Rosko]

Niar

Landscape
Niar doesn’t have much of a landscape at all. For the majority of their territory is in fact the ocean. They are the only nation to have dominance upon the water, with the only other nation with a port being Elghinn. They have several mainland ports that run up the coast, though their territory ends there, only holding the beaches of the mainland. Out in the ocean though, they hold onto several islands. These islands are quite the site, with massive cities built upon them, they are not often threatened by enemies. As most of their opponents are unable to reach them.

Culture
Niar is a nation of traders. They are the main source of trade throughout the world, you will see Niar traders in every part from the deepest fortress of Elghinn to the brightest market in Loff’ta. They trade not only goods from Niar, but they will take goods from one nation and sell it to another. Niar traders make up the vast majority of traders within the world and their nation becomes wealthy off of it. Their people tend to be very good sales men, which is why they are able to make such an impact with their trading. They are also the main source of foreign investment for the rebuilding of Makan. Many would see this as a bad investment, but those of Niar know their money very well and how to use it properly. They don’t make bad investments, and will expect to be repaid by Makan in the future, which is why it will be so hard for Makan to pull themselves out of debt.

Apart from the trading that is the main focus of the majority of Niar people, the next big part of their culture is fishing. Being one of only two nations with a port, and control over the vast majority of the ocean they have free reign over most of the ocean fish in the world. Making fisherman rich as well in the process, as they sell their fish to traders who will take it across the world. It is because of these fisherman, that the towns of Niar are all built along the shores with large ports that are filled with fishing boats. They have several ports upon the mainland, but the majority of their towns and cities are found throughout the ocean on small islands, making them an even harder nation to conquer as one must obtain all the islands to defeat the nation. With the rest of the world lacking a navy this becomes a very difficult task.

Your rank in the society of Niar is based upon how much money you have. The more you have the more respected you are and the more people value your opinion. Even though some people who are extremely rich are not he brightest. Where some of the poor are much more fit to lead a nation. Money is the only thing that can change where you rest in society, that and being named God, but that is only for a select few. Normally whenever a God rises to power and does not have a great wealth, there is an outrage within the nobles of Niar. In a few cases they have killed the God for not having enough money, and since they had the money to pay off the military then they were not prosecuted. The God runs the nation but most of the gods are easily sueded by money, giving the richest man in the nation control over the government. This has created many problems and disputes within the nation. Greed has gotten to the nation and now money controls the majority of it populace.

Army
It is a nation built upon the sea, and the army follows suit. They employ an extremely extensive navy. Their navy controls the oceans with the only other ships coming out of Elghinn’s port, which is mainly pirates. That is what the navy’s main purpose is, the patrol the waters looking for pirate ships. Pirates are dealt with harshly, mostly dealt with in a way fit for the sea. They normally hand the person from one of the masts right at see. That is if the captain of the Niar ship is feeling generous. Pirates are hated within the nation and so all people turn a blind eye when hearing what has been done to torture them. Some have been dragged by boats, while others have had their limbs removed and then cast overboard. Pirates try to avoid running into a Niar military ship as there is no boat in the water that can match a Niar ship, normally they travel in a fleet making them even more threatening. Normally when engaged, pirates will run from the Niar fleet and when they do fight, they fight to the death for fear of what punishment awaits them if they surrender. It is believe that worse things that what the people hear happen to those caught, but the truth of this is left to the sea.

Upon each ship there are two type of men. The smaller portion is normally the sailors. These are the guys who make the boat move and do all of the day to day operations that keep the boat afloat. They do no do much fighting, if any at all. They are not trained to fight, only to keep the boat floating and moving wherever it is need next. They have no uniform and normally carry a single short sword, which is only for extreme purposes and sometimes used to cut ropes aboard the ship. It is very rare that their weapon will kill a person.

The other men that are found upon the ship is what makes up the vast majority of the Niar military. They are the marines. They are well armored soldiers, but to everyone’s surprise their army floats. They are trained extensively in combat both and the seas and on land. They will board and enemy ship and leave none alive, only to land and fight an invading army a few days later. They are always aboard a ship so that they can easily be moved to wherever they are needed. Several of them patrol the cities and towns, especially the mainland ports. Whenever an enemy army is approaching, the whole of the navy will land their marines within a short distance of the rally point where they will amass their army to defend their nation. These soldiers are much better fighters upon boats then in open land, but are not so easily brushed aside in battle. Elghinn has found the best way to engage them is so employ an extreme amount of pirates to provoke the Niar navy, at that point it will be harder for them to amass an army on the mainland to fight, making their mainland ports fall a lot. Their port cities have a weakness though in defending them. They are walled around the outside, but there is a clear avenue to come in from the sea, and that is where they land their armies to regain their port cites. The people of Niar have become extremely adept in making ships, which makes their navy even harder to defeat. This is why only one man has ever threatened the capital of Niar, and to their amazement found a way to destroy not only the capital but the majority of the Niar fleet at the time as well. They have since rebuilt their navy, and a new capital.

Racial Traits

Politics

[Rosko]

Akamu

Landscape
Akamu is an extremely dense jungle, that anyone not from Akamu will most likely become lost in very easily. This dense forest makes it very easy for Akamu warriors to hide in ambush for their enemies, making this place a very strategic land. It is very humid here, which is why the majority of the populace wears very little clothing. These two factors make this a very hostile environment for anyone to enter into, which is why most armies try to avoid attacking this nation. The jungles are also patrolled by some unknown beasts that are rumored to be Kesha’s personal bodyguards, but after the great war were enraged and now attack any person, Foreigner or Akamu citizen, that walks through the jungle.

Culture
The culture of Akamu is one of seclusion. There nation is made up of several some villages that are scattered throughout the jungle. Very few people, even among the nation, can find every single village within the jungles, for they are all very secluded within the dense jungle and have very few paths to them. One most know the jungle very well to even find any sort of village. This is why it is such a hostile place for any to live. Most who don’t know their way around, usually find themselves the prey of either animals or bandits who hide within the jungle as well. Enemy armies find themselves prey to Akamu ambushes. Most foreign traders can’t even find their way through this jungle to be able to trade with the nation, making Akamu need to be very self sufficient. Any technology that the other nations find, it usually takes a while longer to get to them, though for the most part they are technologically similar to the rest of the world, excluding Chath.

Akamu is very much a matriarchal society. Women have consistently been names Goddess, it is very rare for a man to become God of the Earth. Not only there, but the leaders of the villages tend to be women as well. Men still hold fairly high status within the nation for there is no law saying that women are in control, it is more of a tradition. This is also due to the fact that women outnumber the men within Akamu by a vast majority. There is normally no complaints with this. The main problem that is seen within the nation’s government is that the Goddess doesn’t have that much power. She mainly controls the capital city, which is the largest and most often found my outsiders, and controls the majority of the army, but other then that the villages and towns are run by whoever is in charge of it. Most don’t even report anything to the capital. Many of the Goddesses who have come into power didn’t even know some of the villages existed. Communication lacks greatly within Akamu as well, it is hard to get messengers through the jungle, and it is a very dangerous journey for anyone so only important messages are usually sent unless granted a military escort. This seclusion from the capital causes each village to have to fend for themselves. Employing their own militia, gaining all necessities to live, creating laws, and enforcing laws within their land. The villages are very tribal, only having small huts for buildings. Their people match the tribal theme, wearing very little clothing cause of the heat.

The villages tend to be very territorial, as everything they have comes from their small territory. This causes their small militias to fight more often then not. They are usually small skirmishes as the militias are no where near as large as an actual army, militias rarely are over 100 members large and are normally very badly trained. The other use the militia has, other then fighting with other villages, is protecting the village from the Nuijens, they have many different names in different villages but are most widely recognized as Nuijens. These are the beasts that were supposedly let loose from their confines at Nitesh during the Great War. They are believe to once be the personal bodyguards of Kesha herself, made from nature to be the perfect beast. Unbeatable by any, from any nation. Kesha never saw her creations mature, she had raised them within the part of the jungles known as Nitesh. They were bound to that part of the jungle awaiting their release from the spot by Kesha, but with their death they never left. They lived their killing all foreigners that came, leaving all citizens of Akamu alone, knowing they are the followers of their master. It wasn’t until the Great War, that their only weakness was discovered. They are terrified of fire, and as the armies of fire marched through Nitesh their fire mages kept the Nuijens from ever destroying the army. Instead Nitesh itself was burnt down. The Nuijens were freed in a sense, as the only thing that linked them to Kesha was destroyed and so was their tie with the people of Akamu. They were still linked to nature itself causing them to be confined by the jungle, but the people of the nation were no longer safe. The Nuijens are a beast unmatched by anything. One has never been killed, nor ever been hurt by normal weapons. Some have been burned but escaped before they could be killed. It is said that nothing but fire can harm them. These beasts are so in tune with nature that they can enter and exit from parts of the jungle at any point within it. This is done because their bodies join with whatever they wish to enter into and only their spirit travels, and a new body is formed from the trees and rocks in the area of where the go. This makes them even harder to kill. Every village has large fires that burn through the night, the Nuijens are only a threat at night, with constant guards watching the forest for them. Failure to do this has led to many villages to be destroyed, with very few survivors. It is believe that these beast wish to removed all people from nature. They are easily the most feared things within the jungles.

Army
Akamu’s army is the smallest of all the nations. There is really only three types of soldiers. There is the militia, the guards, and the rangers. The first is the militia. They are not an actual part of the army, as they are neither controlled by the Goddess nor are they trained or armed by the government. They do however protect their nation whenever it is threatened though their numbers are small and their usefulness on the battlefield is even less then their numbers. Most of the time they are used as decoys whenever there is a major battle as the rest of the army doesn’t see much use in them. They are known for being routed easily, and doing little to no damage against a trained enemy army, even within their own jungles. This is why the actual army doesn’t put much faith within them.

The next part of the army is much larger then the militia, but still is not very large. It is the guards. They are the soldiers that are placed within the major towns of the nation. They are also sent wherever the Goddess needs extra eyes and hears. They stay mainly within the towns and the capital, even in times of war they are the ones that are left to kill any who make it through the armies in the jungle. Usually in time of a great war the majority of them are pulled to the capital to ensure that it doesn’t fall to the enemy. They are very well trained soldiers in the art of sword fighting, as well as in the tactics to defend a town such as the ones they would be in. They wear the most armor out of anyone within the jungles and that is because they do not normally have to travel through it, which many have found to be difficult in armor. Fighting a group of them is not suggest for any single person, though they are manageable, for they are not normally as strong as soldiers that exist within the other nation.

The last portion of the Akamu army is the most important, the rangers. These are the men and women that see most of the fighting. They are skilled within the woods and know the lands better then anyone. They are the silent hunters of the forest, they will rain arrows upon your position before you even know that anything is about you. Even with the small numbers of the army, these soldiers have turned the tide of many armies who thought they could take on Akamu. Their main tactic is to ambush. You will never know where their attack will come from but before you know it you are surrounded by them. They all mainly use bows, though they all carry swords with them as well. These soldiers are use to being on their own within the wild, and are very rarely called together for a full battle. This is only whenever an army is in sight. Instead they patrol the forest watching for bandits. They are trained at outposts that exist along the edges of the forest, hidden up high in the trees that watch for anything that comes in. Many of them stay there as well, but most will wander the jungles reporting into the outposts only whenever summoned. These men are well known to be scouts, and not just of Akamu territory but are able scouts in all lands. This is why many times foreign armies will employ ex-rangers as scouts for their army. Very few times has an army ever marched out of Akamu, and at the beginning it was made mainly up of rangers, but in recent years whenever there may be a need to march an army on another nation, they begin to recruit an excess amount of guards and train them. Guards then will be the soldiers that march out as they are the most fit for fighting in the kind of conditions that exist in the other nations. Normally though, Akamu’s theory of seclusion keeps them safe from all foreign armies.


Racial Traits

[Rosko]

Loff’ta

Landscape
Loff’ta is made up of great gently rolling grassy plains, with several forests that seem to litter their land. It is most likely the most beautiful land of them all. The sun seems to shine a bit brighter within this nation. The air even seems easier to breath within this magnificent nation. Among the plains, farms can be seen as far as the eye can see, which in Loff’ta is very far. The view is only obstructed by massive cities that seem to rise on the horizon and the few forests that seem to show up randomly around the nation.

Culture
This is most likely the richest nation of them all, and they make sure every other nation knows about it. They firmly believe in all the arts and attempt to make their cities look like art itself. Everything has to be perfect in their eyes, from the look of the land to the look of the people. Loff’ta is known for looking down upon the other nations as if they are in some way better. They also strive to meet the standard for themselves though it is rarely reached. It is not as perfect of a nation as the people try to make it out to be. They do not say it but every person that is not born into the nation of life is looked down upon within their nation. Even whenever they travel themselves, they often attempt to elevate themselves above the people of the other nations. This is often found as a great annoyance and has caused them to be disliked by many of the people of other nations, and often can get tension to rise between them and others. This is also the main reason they fight with Elghinn as much as they do. No body looks down on the nation of death.

Loff’ta is built upon a class system and follows it closely. Those of lower class have less and work harder jobs with more manual labor. The further up the ladder you are the more respect you have and the more money you have. It is almost impossible to move up within the social ladder without joining the army, and even then it is hard to move up very far. You marry within your social class and if someone marries out of it, they are both taken to the lower class of people, this applies for even the richest of nobles. No one really complains with this form because their nation prospers and no one goes hungry. Charity is often given out by nobles which helps those of lower class even more. Lower class within Loff’ta is compared to a middle class of almost all of the other nations, just showing more of how wealthy the nation is.

The biggest problem within the nation of life though is found within the nobles themselves. The nobles are often found creating factions within the nation, though they do not disrupt the country themselves. These factions usually consist of several nobles with the same ideas and they often bicker over all policies of the nation, even though the final decision goes to the god. The god has lost some power within this nation as well, though what is said is what goes, he is often influenced by these different factions for the main reason of an army. The nation itself does not own nor fund an army. All armies are run by these factions and the nobles. Creating a great problem within the army. Though it is very rare that a faction will fight another, factions will refuse to aid another in battle or other political move that keeps their army from really be a significant force in many cases.

The nation of life lives by a code of honor all its own. In their code you do not fight unless attacked first. You defend yourself, your family, and your country against any foe. Do not kill unless necessary. Help any in need. Respect all around you. This code is very rarely followed by the people of the nation, though one would be able to tell someone from the army quickly. The army follows this to perfection and most take it out of the army and back into their lives, but they are the only ones. Some points of this code will find themselves into normal society but the majority of it is only spoken and told to other nations that they follow this, though it is rarely done.

Army
The army of life is based upon groups. The army employs the phalanx and marches in tight forms working as a single unit to kill their enemy. They rely upon the person next to them to help them survive the battle, and for the most part they are a very dangerous opponent to fight, and if to fight the entire army of Loff’ta wold almost be an unwinnable battle. The only thing though is that it is rare to fight the entire army of Loff’ta in a war. The leaders of the factions fund the individual armies that march not only under the banner of Loff’ta but also the banner of the faction they fight for. They are trained and armed by this faction as well as lead by the nobles of it into battle. This form of army makes it easy for troops to be organized as well as cheap for the nation itself to have a standing army to protect it. The only problem is that the nation does not control the army. Factions decide which battlefield their troops enter and which of the other factions they will aid in a fight. On many instances opposing nations will be fighting against a few select factions rather then the entire force of the nation. This has led to a lot of military defeats throughout Loff’ta’s history. This has also lead to the other nations brushing aside Loff’ta for its armies pose little threat when attacking. Whenever an enemy army is threatening the very nation itself though, the entire force is usually there to protect their nation, as it is part of their code of honor to protect their nation.

Training of soldiers varies between factions, but it is normally not as demanding as the training of the rest of the nations. They focus less on skill, but more on discipline and courage. Soldiers of the life nation are very honorable men, and often times when seen within normal society carry themselves as a noble should. They are the only ones in the nation that follow every aspect of the code of honor. They are usually the only citizens of the life nation that even own a weapon, let alone carry one around. That is how you can identify a soldier in public that is not in uniform, as they will be armed. Even retired soldiers still carry swords. They forever protect the people, not only the people of their nation but all. On many occasion a soldier has gotten into trouble for standing between an angry mob and a death nation trader who wasn’t so keen on the citizen’s reaction to the culture he came from. This has made soldiers of the nation respected across the world, even though the other nations find Loff’ta citizens unbearable.

Loff’ta employs cavalry that is unmatched by an other unit in the world. Their cavalry comes with a charge that can break the formation of any soldier, their only disadvantage being that they are not as effective on grounds outside of Loff’ta or the neutral areas of the world. When in the other nations, the ground is usually not set for horses to move through the ground making them uneffective. Which is why their cavalry units are left as a defensive unit which patrol the nation and many of the neutral territories ensuring and very rarely see any real battle outside of fights with bandits. This is why most factions do not employ cavalry, only the largest do. This makes the amount of cavalry within the nation very limited.

Racial Traits

Politics

[Rosko]

Makan

Landscape
Makan is truly a wonder, for it has two completely different parts to it’s nation. The entire territory of the nation is upon one massive mountain. At the base of the mountain is very rocky part, the base is covered with great lightning storms. These storms are very deadly as the great lightning seems as if it aims for those walking about the land. Often these storms will be accompanied with a massive tornado that will rip through the land. The cities at the base of the mountain are built to endure such conditions and thus are unaffected by the weather. As one moves up the mountain further though, they will cross the point where the rain turns to snow, this line is an oddity upon the mountain, as it has the most stable weather for just below are the treacherous storm and up a little is the freezing blizzard. Most travelers will spend the night at this line. The constant blizzards that ravage the top of the mountain are just as much an obstacle as the storms at the base. Most will become lost within them and eventually freeze to death, as one cannot see more then a few feet in front of them. The armies of Makan have trained to use these blizzards to gain a large advantage over their opponent. The weather of this land makes it the most dangerous for travelers.

Culture
Makan was the nation most destroyed by the armies of fire during the Great War. Even though it has been a long time since the war, they have been unable to rebuild themselves to any great degree. They are a broken country. The only city that was not laid in ruins after the war was their capital, as it was used by their enemy after it was seized. Other then that, nothing was left. The constant storms that ravage the lands of Makan, don’t making rebuilding very easy. The people of the nation aren’t as affected by the storms as others would be, but getting the materials to rebuild the cities have to come from foreign merchants who must first brave the storms. A lot of this merchants are killed by their storms, or killed by bandits who have found a home along the slopes. What makes it even more difficult to rebuild is other nations are unwilling to send aid in any form. Makan, in its quest just to survive after the war, has made a lot of sly deals with leaders of other nations. Many times they have gone back on their deals just to make another one with another nation. Looking back, people can see why it had to be done this way for Makan hasn’t been in any condition to fight a war. They have enough trouble keeping their own people safe. This has created some distrust between them and other nations, and with that the other nations have left them to fend for themselves. They rely on rich nobles of other countries to fund their reconstruction. That nation of Makan is extremely poor now and owes many nobles of the other countries a great deal of money now. In more recent years the struggle they have been put through is starting to pay off. Several towns have been rebuilt as well as outposts for the military. This has been a great step for the nation, but it still has a long way to go.

Makan’s culture has pretty much faded in the recent years. The most notable thing that a person would notice coming into the capital, or even one of the new towns. Is that it is vastly over populated. People litter the streets begging for money, as neither they nor their country has any. There is not enough housing in the nation either to put all the people. The entire nation was forced to live in the capital during the Great War, and for generations to follow they had no where else to go. The government’s hope is that as more is rebuilt, this poverty will slowly become less of a problem. They have their own debt to take care of. The temple itself has opened its doors so that people may escape the frigid cold temperatures and sleep upon the hallways of the temple. Wherever they can find places to put people, without them being outside they are trying. Nobles have opened their houses. Many nobles have even thrown expensive furniture outside as to make room for more people to sleep indoors. Most of the expensive things that the nobles have though, are given to the government as a way to help them attempt to get out of debt, but there just isn’t enough money in all of Makan to pay for everything. They can not pay their workers who are building the towns, only guaranteeing them a place to say once it is built. The people of the nation response to these hardships has probably been the only reason that they have a chance at rebuilding. Anyone that as anything has given it up to the government so that they can pay their debt. Food is distributed as equally as possible. Those who own a house allow people that they never knew before in. Foreigners try to avoid coming to Makan for obvious reasons. On the brighter side though, they have already endured the worst of it. With each new day towns are slowly being rebuilt. With that people are slowly moving out of the capital and into these new towns. They believe that in a very short time, Makan will be rebuilt and their people can begin the live again. The only large problem that would remain at that time would be the enormous debt that the government has accrued with foreign investors.

Army
Makan’s armies were once one of the strongest in the world. They are well known for their tactics that are unmatched on any battlefield. These tactics still carry through to today, though their armies are not very large anymore. The government does not have the funds to pay for an army, so instead it is made solely up of volunteers. To their surprise their were many that heeded the call. This figured this was probably due to the fact that the people wanted to escape the poverty stricken city and move to the military outposts that had been built. Whatever the reason is, for the first time since the war Makan has a standing army that is large enough to at least protect what is left of their nation.

There are two main units within the army of Makan. The first being their normal soldiers, which are trained to be able to fight no matter what conditions they face. They are especially skilled within the blizzards near the top of the mountain as that is what they are dressed for. Their entire army wears all white, so whenever driven back to their blizzard covered mountains they can attack an enemy and then disappear into the snow only to prepare for another attack. Very few times has an army ever pushed through to their slopes and only one army has ever been successful upon them. That was the army of fire and death that destroyed the land during the Great War. The main reason for their success was the fact that they were lead by two women who knew the mountains as well as the soldiers they faced, making the army’s tactics upon the mountain almost useless. Each soldier is equipped with both a bow and a long sword. The wear little to no armor relying on their skill with the sword to protect themselves. They are agile soldiers, and are a match for a soldier of Elghinn in one on one combat. Though no army has better skilled soldiers then Elghinn, the armies of Makan are a good match. Their armies don’t tend to be as large as some of the other nations, meaning they have to rely on soldiers to hold their own as well as the tactics of the commanders. Makan is famous for its tacticians who have continuously proved to be the best in the world. Books from the greatest of them are kept locked up in the air temple’s library for only the high ranking in the army to read. With how overflowed the temple is these days with refugees, it would be possible for a person to peak a look at the book, but he would not go in far in attempt to steal it. The library is heavily guarded.

The other unit, which is not used nearly as much, is the riders. They ride a beast known as the Feur’yons. They are found across the mountain of Makan, and are amazingly fast animals for the type of terrain they walk on. They can move with the same speed no matter what the environment, making them affective anywhere. In fact, they were once used in a raid on Akamu, and proved to be very affective within the jungle lands. They are odd looking creatures, and normally very timid. It is only after being properly trained will the even be able to stand around people. This also makes them harder to capture and harder to train. With enough training they can forget their timidness and will turn into a powerful beast on the field. They are short creatures staying low to the ground as to keep their center of gravity low as well. They also have a wide feet base to make sure they can keep their balance on the large mountains. Even though they don’t look like it they are quite fast animals, able to move their feet with immense speed. They have long sharp claws which were made for holding onto the ground and large teeth that were originally for digging out small creatures from the rocks of the mountains. Most that are used for battle have their teeth sharpened and are trained to bite their enemy and claw at them, even when their rider is dead or dismounted. The riders look like normal soldiers, with a sword and a bow, but they also carry a long spear that is used while atop their beast. They are also used as patrols across the mountains, trying to keep bandits at bay.

Racial Traits

Politics