The Arcshire Union
The group of adventurers who unified Akadence and Ouverton created history by braving the dangerous surface, but did so just barely and the resulting alliance was still a bit shaky and weak to start with. But far southwest of both cities another city made far more preparations and have made a much stronger foundation. The organized city of Arcshire has made plans to expand and take back the surface world for decades or even centuries, and with their most recent leader Juliette Harvey's rise to power that plan is one tiny step from reality. After the previous leader had died from sudden magic poisoning the spokeswoman of the local cult of Andarta quickly took the position with an almost unnatural charisma and gusto, and almost immediately expanded the local guard force into a full blown military. Her stern and iron-fisted rule has shaped up Arcshire immensely, giving her the respect and adoration from almost everyone in the city.
Now with a well trained military and an effective leader, Arcshire is more prepared than anyone to go outside and reclaim the surface. Harvey formed the Arcshire Union, a group consisting of cities from all over under Arcshire's thumb. Their ultimate goal is a unified world with Arcshire ruling over it to keep order, but at the moment only Arcshire itself is in the union. But a city with a few clerics and arcane seers don't have any problems looking beyond the cavern walls, and rumor has it that Archcommander Harvey has gathered a group for a secret important mission...
Now with a well trained military and an effective leader, Arcshire is more prepared than anyone to go outside and reclaim the surface. Harvey formed the Arcshire Union, a group consisting of cities from all over under Arcshire's thumb. Their ultimate goal is a unified world with Arcshire ruling over it to keep order, but at the moment only Arcshire itself is in the union. But a city with a few clerics and arcane seers don't have any problems looking beyond the cavern walls, and rumor has it that Archcommander Harvey has gathered a group for a secret important mission...
Structure
At the top of the union stands Archcommander Juliette Harvey. The imposing Aasimar's word is law and cannot be questioned, and while lower members can come to decisions she still has to allow it first. Underneath her are several administrators that govern aspects of everyday life in Arcshire. They make the suggestions and ideas, Harvey does the decisions.
Public Agenda
The main goal behind the Arcshire Union is to expand the city's reach and not only reclaim the surface world, but do so with all the potential cities out there under one single banner. This leads to more resources, manpower and technologies to benefit Arcshire. Due to the success Arcshire has had since Archcommander Harvey took over most people support this movement since if they've prospered this much on their own, with a whole other city backing them they would only go further.
Assets
Due to their leader also being the head of the whole city the union has citywide resources at their disposal. They have all the money, manpower, equipment and other resources they would ever need in their endeavor to brave the surface world.
Military
Before the union Arcshire's military was just a guard force of about 50 people trained to combat wayward animals and catch criminals. But when Juliette Harvey came into power she quickly changed things. She and the administrators made use of propaganda, promises and changes to the system to not only vastly expand the guard force and successfully recruit over 2000 people (almost 1/4 of the total population), but also vastly improve their equipment and training. The result is the most powerful military seen since before the Day of Fate. As a result of this there is close to no crime in Arcshire, but at the same time the non-militaristic businesses have suffered due to a lack of staff and much of their produce going to the military. At the moment there is mostly minor complaints due to the promises to expand and recruit more outer cities, but some are not happy at all. The military is divided in several smaller groups: The Guard Force who acts as the police in Arcshire, fulfilling the same role as the pre-union military, the Advance Force who will go out and take down major threats like dragons or purple worms who make the surface a living hell and finally the Union Drafters. A group of locals renowned for their skills in various areas, and their job is to go first and establish connections with discovered cities along with chart a good path there to prepare the Advance Force.
Technological Level
Since the union got into power Arcshire's technological and arcane levels has advanced notably. Arcshire has long since managed to keep magic radiation in check but with the union's power they have managed to properly weaponize it in the form of more resistant armour, magic force fields, melee weapons and even prototype bombs not too different to the ones behind the Day of Fate, just lacking their immense power. The most important discovery of them all however is the Mana formula discovered by human scientist Esmeralda Mavera. This formula is a injected solution that makes the person immune to magics radioactive effects at the cost of not being able to manipulate it for spellcasting (does not affect divine magic users due to that magics different nature). While it does not make them invincible in the face of an incoming Fireball or even a simple Magic Missile it does make them capable of venturing out into the still contaminated areas of the world. This in combination with their sheer numbers along with empowered weapons and gear makes the Arcshire military capable of standing up to everything short of elder dragons. The non-military factions of Arcshire have also benefited from the improvements. The Mana formula have resulted in an improved power plant due to less safety restrictions. Several minor technologies have made life easier in Arcshire, but the most major one is the recent teleport pad. A scientific group managed to find a way to temporarily transform a person into light particles and direct them to another spot where they rematerialize. This has resulted in pads across the city where the populace can pay a (high) fee to teleport to various important spots like the town plaza or power plant.
Divine Origins
Andartism is the main religion in the union and Arcshire as a whole due to the leader being a devout follower of the false war god. When Harvey got into power Andartism was made the official religion of Arcshire, with temples and shrines being built all around the city. This did boost Zariel's/Andarta's worship in the city, but far from everyone converted just because their leader said so. About 22% of Arcshire's population are devout followers, while a total of 30% others are casual temple-goers without any real connection to Zariel. Most of the full followers are in the military, mostly in the Advance Force and a few in the Guard Force with only a couple in the Drafters.
Granted Divine Powers
Since Juliette Harvey is the chosen champion of Zariel/Andarta she has several boons backing her up, including limited divination, supernatural charisma, increased physicality and strength and can talk directly with the Deverard. She also has access to the immensely powerful Sword of Zariel granting her even more divine abilities. Meanwhile a regular follower gets much smaller boons. When a follower connects to Zariel she can transfer a bit of her magic to the person, which usually manifests as increased charisma and resolve. A few clerics, priests and particularly devoted followers can increase these magical abilities through training and prayer to Zariel, but most people don't go that far.
Political Influence & Intrigue
Andartism has almost completely reshaped Arcshire compared to just a decade earlier. Before it became the official religion it was just a minor cult with few members and Arcshire was a city focused on industries and protection from the outer world. Now, with the champion of Zariel/Andarta at the helm, things have changed. The goals have completely changed from simple survival to conquest and colonization. This has led to a lot of militarisation of the city, a couple major temples in the name of Andarta/Zariel plus several shrines, a much more active daily pattern and several technological and magical advancements. However not everything has worked for the better. While the majority of the populace stands behind this new way, those who don't agree really don't agree. The non-militaristic factions of Arcshire has suffered from the changes and are in risk of shutting down, and while the newly formed union hasn't been along long enough to shut them down completely yet they will eventually go down unless they do unite with another city. This thought is the one thing keeping the union from collapsing from within (that and Harvey's leadership).
"One world, one banner"
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Training Level
Trained
Veterancy Level
Trained
Government System
Dictatorship
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Command/Planned economy
Currency
Stone units, small chiseled stones in various shapes depending on their value. A circle is worth 1 unit while a square is worth 10 for example.
Legislative Body
Migaar Navata, dwarven administrator of law in Arcshire.
Judicial Body
Grand judge Monica Linala, human leader of the Arcshire court.
Official State Religion
Deities
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