Akros

The walled polis of Akros stands defiantly atop a precipitous cliff. The unforgiving mountains around it serve as a shield between its holdings and the rest of Theros. Few have ever dared to attack its famed fortress, the Kolophon, and no attack has ever breached its walls. To the residents of Theros, the Akroans hold near-mythical status: feared warriors produced by a culture that centers around perfecting the mind and body for war. Their armies have rarely tasted defeat as they expand the borders of Akros, seizing new lands and bounty.

Demographics

Lektoi

At the apex of Akroan society are the lektoi, the large warrior class of Akros. Members of this class claim descent from the seven warriors who first established the Kolophon after the fall of the archons. Though the families now number more than seven, each one uses an animal associated with one of the seven warriors as its symbol, either the ram, lion, horse, boar, badger, bull, or hart. The ram, associated with Akros’s first king, Elektes, is commonly used as a symbol for the lektoi as a whole and for Akroan strength, determination, and resilience. It is a popular theme in clothing, jewelry, and weapon ornamentation, and some lektoi even wear their hair braided into stylized ram horns.
Although the lektoi claim descent from heroes, membership in this noble class isn’t strictly hereditary. Anyone can earn a place among them by claiming a victory in the annual Iroan Games. More commonly, members of lektoi families lose their place of privilege if they fail to fulfill their obligation to serve in the Akroan military.

Stratians

The Akroan military is formed of wandering bands of warriors (drawn from the lektoi families) known as stratians. Outside the walls of the Kolophon, the stratians camp in the forests and fields, hunt game for food, and train younger warriors as they go. Their tasks are to search for monsters that have strayed into Akroan territory and to protect travelers. Stratian forces are divided into three types of duty and armed appropriately for the task before them:
Alamon. Rugged forces of wanderers patrol Akros’s borders, defending against invasion or attack by monsters that dwell in the mountains, foothills, and badlands around Akroan territory. They are armed and armored for speed and agility, allowing them to move stealthily and strike unexpectedly.
Lukos. The most elite forces among the stratians, the so-called wolves contend with threats that the Alamon can’t handle alone. After the guerrilla tactics of the Alamon have softened up a target, the heavily armored Lukos march to finish the task.
Oromai. The watchers are the guardians of the Kolophon who protect the fortress from invaders and maintain order within its walls.

Flamespeakers

Prominent spellcasters, the flamespeakers are reclusive priests of Purphoros who revere nature spirits and who inhabit fiery rifts in the mountains. The ancient practice is viewed as primitive but powerful, and Akroans of any background might risk making a pilgrimage into the mountains to hear a flamespeaker’s prophecies.

Servants and Serfs

Lektoi who complete their military service with honor often retire to the Kolophon or their family estates and go about the leisured life of aristocrats. Their households are run by a class of servants made up of lektoi who were unable or unwilling to undertake a military career. These servants lack citizenship’s full privileges but retain a position of some honor thanks to their class.
Below these servants, at the bottom of Akros’s social hierarchy, are the serfs. Comprising the vast majority of Akros’s population, the serfs largely reside outside the protection of the Kolophon, laboring to grow the staple crops that support Akros’s citizens and its trade. A relatively small number of serfs are skilled artisans who manage to build a more prosperous life for themselves with their crafts. But even these wealthier serfs can’t own the land they live on, and they enjoy few rights or legal protections.

Government

Traditionally, Akros is ruled by a monarch drawn from the lineage of lektoi. The monarchy passes from parent to eldest child, but any sibling or first cousin of the heir can challenge this succession and claim the throne by besting the heir in single combat.
Currently, the monarchy is in a state of turmoil. King Anax has died, and his wife, Queen Cymede, has disappeared. An oracle of Keranos, the queen is said to have transformed into a pillar of fire and vanished into the wind, but until her death is certain, the lektoi are reluctant to name a new monarch. Anax and Cymede have no children, so the king’s niece, Taranika, acts as regent, attempting to guide the polis through what is sure to be a difficult transition.
As if the situation weren’t complicated enough, rumors have it that Anax isn’t dead. He, or perhaps some shimmering Nyxborn simulacrum of him, has been seen at the head of squads of satyr hoplites, wielding an axe that billows with smoke and drips searing lava.

Points of interest

The Kolophon

At the center of the polis of Akros rises the Kolophon, a mighty fortress and the seat of Akroan power. This many-tiered structure perches upon a vast cliff, which drops into a deep canyon carved by the Deyda River. Nature and Akroan ingenuity conspire to make the Kolophon one of the most intimidating fortresses in Theros.
Beyond the polis stretch craggy hills and mountains broken by narrow stretches of arable plains. It is a nearly impassable landscape, save for a few roads hewn through passes. Residents claim that only a fool would attempt to invade the heartlands of Akros, yet Akroans obsessively guard against invasion nonetheless.

Temple of Triumph at Akros

At the heart of the walled city is the huge stadium that hosts Theros’s greatest sporting event, the Iroan Games. A grand temple of Iroas stands beside it, serving as the venue for award ceremonies. A wide plaza connects the stadium to the city’s outer gates, offering plenty of room for celebration around the annual games.
When the stadium isn’t hosting the actual Iroan Games, it is still used daily for training and for lesser athletic events. Many of the buildings surrounding the stadium are dedicated to serving it: smaller training facilities, providers of athletic gear, stables, and other shops.

Architecture

Beyond its thick walls, the streets of Akros are dotted with towering statues of heroes. Red-tiled roofs soar over square-topped sandstone columns, and holy sites dedicated to Iroas, Purphoros, and Keranos, among the other gods, are many. The architecture is formidable, spare, and militaristic, thick with sharp, angular shapes.

Geography

Arable land is scattered across small plateaus and valleys in Akros, meaning that the serf communities that farm the land are small and just as scattered. Volcanic rifts, landslides, and venomous animals make travel dangerous for anyone who doesn’t know the terrain, and visitors wishing to avoid suspicion from patrolling stratians would be wise to stick to the roads.

Myth: The Akroan War

Centuries before the polis of Olantin sunk beneath the sea, its queen left her husband for the king of Akros. Slighted and heartbroken, the Olantian king summoned his whole host of loyal spears and sails to wage war on the fortified mountain polis.
What followed was a siege that stretched on for decades. Whole parts of Akros were destroyed and rebuilt in the fighting. There were heroes who knew only a life of conflict, performing feats of incredible prowess for the honor of Olantin, or who awed the gods with their sleepless commitment to defending the gates of Akros.
Most people today know of the event from an embellished account laid down in an epic poem, The Akroan War. Although its author has been lost to time, the poem is considered to be a definitive accounting of the greatest war in history. Countless soldiers aspire to fight with the honor and purpose that inspired the heroes of the Akroan War.

Location under

Theros

Owner/Ruler

The Kings of Iektoi