Regions outside of the empire

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The few countries not yet conquered by the empire have fortified their river borders with dangerous magic-resistant chemicals and bioengineered animals. Still, they cannot thrived in isolation and, in their attempt to compete with the empire, often end up hurting their own citizens...

The borders

Unsurprisingly, the few places not yet conquered by the empire do not look favourably on their ambitious neighbour. This means that relationship—and trade—between them are very limited, and that most borders are now highly-magically fortified no man's lands.
Most borders are delimited by rivers, as the flow of the magic in their water disrupts and weakens wards and thus makes a naturally transition area between them.
Since the batch of conquests organised by the last emperor, the new borders have been reinforced with special protections, which includes fun things like adding a chemical in the source of the rivers to render the water resistant to magic and like using taboo magic to engineer a new species of carnivorous fish that can absorb the magic of living beings upon biting them.

Sannian bioengineer fish by AmélieIS

The countries

A few clusters of countries and islands still stand separate from the empire. On the Western borders of the empire lies its main ennemies, a group of medium and small size countries all closely allied together to withstand the might of the empire.
The leading country is Sanne. Since the last series of imperial conquests, it stands directly at the border. This country is the most similar among all foreigners to the oldest regions of the empire—which includes Ilara, the region ruled by Hélène's family. It has a temperate climate and a lot of wild lands spreading between a few big cities. The main difference between them is that in Sanne these wild lands are not the results of a voluntary rewilding and return to nature.
Indeed, in order to compete with the empire's prestige despite its more limited resources and isolation from the big imperial trade network, Sanne has had to rush to catch up to its technological development. This has required lax environmental regulations and a nonchalant approach to safety that have led it to suffer from a few big industrial disasters. The chemicals and magic that were released as a result have deeply transformed the environment. The only animals and plants surviving were those that were able to develop a high resistance to magic and those able to absorb an amount of metals in their body that make them too toxic for human consumption.
Today, Sanne's economy and society are still highly focused on manufactures and alchemy, although with better regulations to protect its citizens. As a results, it is one of the most modern of the foreign countries—though still not at the level of the empire—and the health of its inhabitants is slowly improving.

The current border of the empire by FotoParaTi on DepositPhotos

Hélène's lips thinned as she observed the view outside of the window. The carriage was still flying over the vast expands of a Sannian forest. It was one thing to know she would have to walk for days through the dangerous wilderness to sneak her way over the border, and quite another to physically see what this represented... Would her preparations actually be enough?
Thankfully, the moment of doubt went by quickly. She was an amazing enchantress. Of course what she had done would be more than enough for her to walk all the way back to the empire, carrying the emperor over her shoulder, and leaving all the bewildered Sannians behind her, wondering what had happened to their plan. The emperor would have to agree to her request to heal Julie and even give her bloody medal as a reward!

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Related articles

The Empire of Arboise

Politics Politicians (The Emperor and his soulmates, The imperial guards) · Events (The Empire Renewal, The Twelfth Sannian War, The Sannian kidnapping announcement) · Institutions (The empire and its political system, The selection and coronation of a new emperor, Curses and the legal system, The imperial curse—the ultimate judgment on traitors) Culture Imperial citizens · Overview of the professions in the Empire · Soulmates · Courtship rituals · Languages of the empire and translation magic · Winners of the neighbourhood wall painting competition Locations Geography of the Empire of Arboise · Ilara—Hélène's home region · Quanahr—Hélène's town · Arboise—Capital of the Empire · The imperial palace · Regions outside of the empire