Numeria
Toward the end of the Age of Darkness, a great fireball with a smoking heart of steel broke apart in the night skies above Numeria, shattering into fragments—some as small as fists, others large as cities—that buried themselves across the rocky plains. These strange relics from another world beyond the stars have shaped life for the grim, survivalist tribes of Numeria ever since. Invisible emanations mutate the native animal and plant life into warped forms; horrors slumbering in cold chambers meant to voyage between the stars sometimes awaken and escape.
Vast swaths of Numeria are cratered, irradiated wastelands populated by metal-clawed monsters with eyes of burning light. But skymetal and fragments of technology are powerful resources, and the lure of such wealth draws the brave and foolish alike.
The native people of Numeria are hard-bitten Kellids, mostly hunters and herders with a dark, superstitious worldview shaped by their unforgiving land and its star-flung hazards. The fiercest warlord in each generation traditionally takes the title of the Black Sovereign and claims rulership of Numeria, but in practice most tribes have their own leaders and pay little heed to a far-off sovereign, believing only peasants and soft city folk bow their heads to such claims.
This is particularly true for the current Black Sovereign, a once-mighty warrior named Kevoth-Kul, who conquered the city of Starfall in his youth. Some believed Kevoth-Kul would lead Numeria to glory on a red tide of conquest. Instead, he succumbed to the influence of the Technic League, a cabal of secretive arcanists and researchers obsessed with unlocking the secrets of Numerian technology. The Technic League plied Kevoth-Kul with the mind-altering fluids that seeped from the walls of Silver Mount, the vast and unimaginably complex edifice of alien technology half-buried in the earth outside Starfall. Soon the Black Sovereign was hopelessly addicted to these fluids, and lapsed into erratic, moody indolence.
Recently, however, the Captain of the Technic League died under closely concealed circumstances. Brave souls whisper tales of a strange new goddess arising from the core of Silver Mount following the captain’s demise, but the truth of these rumors is unknown. What is certain is that the Technic League fell into squabbling, murderous disarray within weeks. The survivors largely fled Starfall, and the Black Sovereign, freed from their control, has begun to break fitfully free from his addiction. Many fear that if he regains his senses, Kevoth-Kul will resume his campaign of conquest across Numeria. Since most Numerians have grown accustomed to semi-independence and no longer trust their tyrannical, unstable ruler, this is not a welcome prospect.
The alternative, however, may be worse. While the Black Sovereign remained lost in his decades-long haze of intoxication, other warlords began claiming their own territories in Numeria. The collapse of the Technic League has greatly increased these warlords’ power, as many former League members sought positions as advisors, and those new allies brought along their arsenals of stolen technology. Now, the warlords and their Technic League advisors are locked in an all-out arms race, each one vying to hoard the most powerful technology. While this has ensured that Numerian technology remains jealously guarded within the nation and does not reach neighboring lands, it also raises the risk that Numeria’s civil war, if it comes, will prove devastating.
Vast swaths of Numeria are cratered, irradiated wastelands populated by metal-clawed monsters with eyes of burning light. But skymetal and fragments of technology are powerful resources, and the lure of such wealth draws the brave and foolish alike.
The native people of Numeria are hard-bitten Kellids, mostly hunters and herders with a dark, superstitious worldview shaped by their unforgiving land and its star-flung hazards. The fiercest warlord in each generation traditionally takes the title of the Black Sovereign and claims rulership of Numeria, but in practice most tribes have their own leaders and pay little heed to a far-off sovereign, believing only peasants and soft city folk bow their heads to such claims.
This is particularly true for the current Black Sovereign, a once-mighty warrior named Kevoth-Kul, who conquered the city of Starfall in his youth. Some believed Kevoth-Kul would lead Numeria to glory on a red tide of conquest. Instead, he succumbed to the influence of the Technic League, a cabal of secretive arcanists and researchers obsessed with unlocking the secrets of Numerian technology. The Technic League plied Kevoth-Kul with the mind-altering fluids that seeped from the walls of Silver Mount, the vast and unimaginably complex edifice of alien technology half-buried in the earth outside Starfall. Soon the Black Sovereign was hopelessly addicted to these fluids, and lapsed into erratic, moody indolence.
Recently, however, the Captain of the Technic League died under closely concealed circumstances. Brave souls whisper tales of a strange new goddess arising from the core of Silver Mount following the captain’s demise, but the truth of these rumors is unknown. What is certain is that the Technic League fell into squabbling, murderous disarray within weeks. The survivors largely fled Starfall, and the Black Sovereign, freed from their control, has begun to break fitfully free from his addiction. Many fear that if he regains his senses, Kevoth-Kul will resume his campaign of conquest across Numeria. Since most Numerians have grown accustomed to semi-independence and no longer trust their tyrannical, unstable ruler, this is not a welcome prospect.
The alternative, however, may be worse. While the Black Sovereign remained lost in his decades-long haze of intoxication, other warlords began claiming their own territories in Numeria. The collapse of the Technic League has greatly increased these warlords’ power, as many former League members sought positions as advisors, and those new allies brought along their arsenals of stolen technology. Now, the warlords and their Technic League advisors are locked in an all-out arms race, each one vying to hoard the most powerful technology. While this has ensured that Numerian technology remains jealously guarded within the nation and does not reach neighboring lands, it also raises the risk that Numeria’s civil war, if it comes, will prove devastating.
Type
Political, Confederation
Capital
Leader
Leader Title
Location
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
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