Parcadia

For over a thousand years, the government of Parcadia has been working to unify the various peoples of the continent into a collection of Cities. Becoming part of Parcadia brings the Runesmen to the City, and with them Runes that can heat a home, clean water, and provide communication to other Cities across the continent. The massive Cawes Transportation system creates safe, fast travel for trade goods between the Cities. The military of Parcadia protects the people from pirate raiders on the western ocean, and the greedy countries to the north, east and south that seek to damage and steal from the citizens.   All is not well with Unification. The people of the cities lose access to their own historical magics as their cultre is wiped away. Cities that have been unified for centuries may lose favour with the government as resources are spent in claiming new territories instead of sending aid during sickness and famine. Border Cities want to keep more resources for themselves, instead of sending everything back to Central Parcadia, and declarations of sovereignity are not far away. There are even factions in Central Parcadia that feel the current governing body do not have the best interests of the people in mind, and some are more violent than others.   The drive to bring about unification never stops, with some saying that full unification is the only way to truly control the magic of the Nodes, where all Runes come from. The theories of the Nodal Network suggest that an unlimited amount of Rune energy will become available, which will lead to new advances that can only improve the lives of the people. However, there are ancient records that suggest that this energy should never be fully harnessed, and may have lead to catastrophies in the distant past.