The Bürach Empire

in The Realms of Etharis

  NESTLED IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF Etharis, the Bürach Empire presides over its domain like an old lion ravaged by illness. Once a beacon for grand civilisations everywhere, it is now a shattered nation, a nest of corrupt nobility seeking to revive old glories, lurking monsters that prey on the unwary, and desperate common folk trying to survive both.

Though it is still viewed by most of its neighbors as the political, military, and economic superpower of Etharis, those within the Bürach Empire live each day with the sense that the end is near. Whether that end comes by war, cults of strange gods, rebellion, economic collapse, or the otherworldly threat of the Beast, the Empire is seeing its last days.
 

Languages: Imperial Norm, Valikan, Raulish, Dwarven, and all Imperial dialects
Currency: Bürach Crown
Occupying the central region of Etharis is its largest and most powerful nation. The Bürach Empire arose when four gods formed a pantheon that united the four kingdoms of Abendland, Nordenland, Rauland, and Unterland. When the assasination of Emperor Leopold I drove these gods mad, they killed each other in a cosmic war known as the Gods’ End.

Since then, a great unease has festered in the heart of the Bürach people. Ostoya continues to threaten its eastern borders, while restive Valikan Clans challenge their power from the north. Meanwhile, an entity known as the Great Beast stalks the countryside, killing indiscriminately and creating aberrations born from nightmares. The Hearthkeeper Church is using all its powers to destroy the Great Beast while simultaneously suppressing all talk about it.


Still, the Bürach Empire clings to a vestige of power. It still commands the largest army in Etharis, its spellcasters remain the envy of other nations, and its currency, the Bürach crown, is recognized everywhere in the continent except Ostoya.

The Bürach is divided into four distinct provinces, each separated by religious and political ties.