Voranor
Structure
Voranor is currently a highly stratified, theocratic feudal kingdom ruled by the venerable, vindictive Priestking Lioric IX, rumored to have lost his mind after living most of his more than 100 years in the Fallen Temple too near the Spellspire Eth. The Kingdom of Voranor has been in steep decline since the Great Rebellions of Eoland, Eshia, and The Vales in the decade preceding 2175 when the imperial ambitions of the tyrannical and intolerant Voran Church finally ended in defeat and disgrace. The failing grip of the the Vales, led by the Priestking and the Seven Holy Septarchs, is violently grasping to maintain control as faith in the Church erodes and even the fabled Knights of Nethereth show signs of dissent and possible open revolt amongst their ranks.
History
Voranor is an ancient Human land that has gone through several long-lasting, vastly different political iterations. The Vorans began, like most early Humans, as pre-agrarian nomadic and barbarian tribes, spread throughout what are now known as the Golden Hills and high Plains of Nethereth into the Doomsky Mountains and Godshields, Kromm, and all the way to the Singing Coast of Eshia. Like all peoples before the First Ruination, the Vorans were ruled fairly unobtrusively by the distant Elves of Daenor for millennia. The largest of the tribes, led by Lioric Naether I, even willingly fought beside the Elves with the Eolmen against the Orc Hordes at the Battle of Brokenspear in 12 AFR. After the Sundering of the Elves, Lioric’s son Voric the Great combined the tribes of the vast Northlands to form the Kingdom of Voranor in 68, a dynasty that still rules to this day. The Voran Kingdom remained relatively stable with occasional territorial wars with Kromm, Koth and Eoland for 1500 years, but began a rapid and violent expansion under Baenric the Bold in the 16th century, deeming himself Emperor of the Voran Empire in 1568 and beginning the practice of slavery. His son, Lioric the Pious, adopted what was until then a small yet quickly-spreading cult following of the “One God” and created the Lioric the Pious, a move that solidified and justified Voran control over its expanding territories. At the peak of the Voran Empire, in the century after the Second Ruination, the Voran Church controlled all the lands from the Great Forest and the Sea of Shards in the east to the western shores of Kromm and Eshia to the edge of Lake Nenlas and the Aedyrith in Daenor to the south, kept together by the iron grip of the Church, the wealth brought by the enslavement of millions of conquered peoples, and the tactical brilliance of the Knights of Nethereth. Although brutal and morally corrupt, it was the immense power of the Voran Empire that formed the center of the Alliance with Daenor, Eoland, Calead, Feldorn and Feldorn to defeat Urda at the end of the Second Ruination. However, the next Voran Priestking, Voric the Deceiver, betrayed the other Human lands, conquering and annexing the wounded Eoland, Calead, and the Vales, and enslaving many of its peoples. This cemented the rest of the world's hatred for the Voran Church, and the massive empire became too difficult to control as Priestking after Priestking--driven to their own unique form of madness at the Fallen Temple in the Skystones near the Spellspire Eth--sought to squelch any resistance to the absolute power of the Church while the Knights of Nethereth scrambled back and forth across great distances to maintain order. The Empire began to fray around the turn of the second millenium under the reign of Baenric the Mad, when the Turning of Koth--caused when a Holy Septarch turned into Vampire Lord Vaekenral and ravaged the entire region in horror and blood--made the Vorans retreat from Koth, Braeus, Ufria, the Stonelands, and the wastes of momentarily subdued Urda. Calead--founded by the Magewives after the Schism of the Voran Church of 1785--was the first to revolt in 2164, sparking the Great Rebellion of 2165-2175. Next was Eoland, then Eshia and the Vales, the Vorans suffering defeat after defeat as their own people began to question the infallibility of the Church and the invincibility of the Knights of Nethereth. In 2215, the Free Armies of Eshia, backed by Eoland and Calead, pursued a 15 year long campaign to destroy the Voran Church and end slavery once and for all in what came to be known as Iomedae's War, but fell short when the Vorans made a last stand at their capital and fought off the Free Armies. Peace was codified at the the Accord of Solace in 2230, though many wanted to see the Church wiped from Creacia. However, the war was successful in effectively ending both the Voran Empire and the practice of slavery in all of the Northlands, while the Church, a spiteful, pale shadow of its former glory, maintained an uneasy dominion over the Vorans in what is now the Kingdom of Voranor.
Territories
The current borders of Voranor stretch from the Godshields and Doomsky Mountains to the east, the Wyvern Peaks and Blackstone Keep to the north, the Mirrored Chain and the edge of the Ironwood to the west, and the southern border of the Golden Hills to the south. The majority of the land is dominated by the expansive Plains of Nethereth, semi-fertile, rocky flatlands that extend from the capital Vora to the Godshields, cut through the middle by the wide and slow Netherun River. The Glomdal Forest on the slopes of the Wyvern Peaks is the only large source of wood in Voranor and is home to most of the non-Human population. Blackfall Vale and the rushing Blackfall River are the main pass into Kromm and is still highly protected against the barbarians, giants and monsters of the Far North by the massive, ancient fortress Blackstone Keep, while Darkguard Tower watches vigilantly over high Mogrim Pass into Urda. The Golden Hills in the south are home to a notable population of Hearth Halflings(Koemfer), slaves until the Great Rebellion, and are the richest farmlands of Voranor but are continually terrorized by the hobgoblins from the Teeth. The Ironwood and the Eorune River form the official western border, maintaining a brittle peace between Voranor and the surrounding lands, making Neminster Bridge the most fortified bridge in the world.
Religion
Voranor's official state religion is the Voran Church which demands fanatical and uncompromising worship of the "One God." While the rest of the world and many of Voranor's more enlightened citizens know that their monotheistic deity is actually Asmodeus, the Church insists that the "One God" is the only true God and all the others are imposters or manifestations of "Chaos", the Church's embodiment of ultimate evil. The Church, as well as the Kingdom of Voranor, is ruled by the all-powerful Priestking and the Seven Holy Septarchs, seven priests who control different aspects of the realm. Most music, art and poetry and almost all intoxicants are outlawed, and the use of magic is heavily regulated by the Church. Worship of any other God in Voranor is strictly forbidden, the worshippers persecuted as heretics and often tortured until they renounce their religions and then burnt at the stake to cleanse their chaotic souls.
Agriculture & Industry
Voranor is currently on the brink of starvation since the Voran Empire relied so heavily on slavery and sequestered resources from conquered lands. While the Plains of Nethereth are vast, the soil is rocky and difficult to cultivate, though not impossible; however, farms had been abandoned for centuries as all the men and women were enlisted into the Voran Army and the Knights of Nethereth. The only fertile lands are the shallow, verdant valleys between the Golden Hills, populated by Hearth Halflings, Tauren(Bullman) and Natyr(Goatman) former slaves who are currently fomenting dissent and quickly approaching a rebellion of their own. The Vorans have some of the best Human smiths in the world and trade frequently with the Mountain Dwarves(Tuzutain) of Khad Glorix to the south and Khad Azrox to the north, though the fabled Voran Vaults in the Skystones are rumored to be running near empty of their once immeasurable wealth, all manner of treasures and artifacts stolen from the conquered peoples of the Centerlands.
One God, One Order
Population
1,577,000
Distribution
80% Human, 5% Halfling (4% Hearth/1% Wanderlust), 4% Hill Dwarf, 3% Half-Orc, 2% Tauren, 2% Gnome (1% Forest Gnome/1% Gear Gnome), 1% Goblin, 1% Natyr, 2% varies
14% in Vora, 26% in other towns, 60% rural
1,577,000
Distribution
80% Human, 5% Halfling (4% Hearth/1% Wanderlust), 4% Hill Dwarf, 3% Half-Orc, 2% Tauren, 2% Gnome (1% Forest Gnome/1% Gear Gnome), 1% Goblin, 1% Natyr, 2% varies
14% in Vora, 26% in other towns, 60% rural
Founding Date
68 AFR
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Demonym
Voran
Head of State
Government System
Theocracy
Power Structure
Unitary state
Currency
Baens
Major Exports
Arms, glass, stone, livestock
Major Imports
Food, metals, textiles, crafts
Official State Religion
Comments