Major Realms: Snowkeep (aseku), Keephame (aseku), Yeovil Dominant, The Republic of Liskeard, The City-State of Candor, The Care of Tharsis, Carnutum Trust
Continent: Dominarchus
Terrain: Icewind Mts., Manacle Mts., Mirablis Lake, Gothos Forest, The Scorch, Ruk Forest
Rivers: River Fireagh, Mirablis River
Special Classes & Kits:
The people of Empyrias prefer tunics and trousers, with scarves, long coats, and gloves in the winter. In Empyrias there is commonly differentiation in dress between men and women, with men typically wearing trousers and high boots and women typically wearing skirts and low boots. The upper classes prefer brighter colors and richer fabrics, whereas the lower classes tend to wear somber colors and utilitarian fabrics. Weapons are commonly worn by all classes and sexes, and tend to be ornate in fashion. Hair tends to be shortish for men and long (but styled up) for women. Men are usually cleanshaven. In Candor, especially at court, these styles may change regularly - elsewhere they are fairly consistent.
Buildings tend to be built around comfort, with solid stone and wood construction, open windows and pleasant courtyards. Roofs are gently slanted and usually wood or tile. Outside sculpture is often marble, while inside sculpture tends to be warm, burnished bronze. Experimentation in art and architecture is common.
Formerly the seat of the Dominion, and then the seat of one of the two dragons-imperate who oversaw the Cognoterre, Empyrian natives are used to the presence of powerful aristocracy and tend to take a jaded view toward their rulers. This hasn't changed since the Theophany and the subsequent civil uprisings that have arisen as factions fight for possession of this symbolically important throne.
Empyrias is wealthier than most of its neighboring realms, with its capital, Candor, showing stark contrasts between the wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods. The aristocracy has salons and art exhibits, wear rich silks and sip tea from delicate bone china; the guttersnipes wear ragged clothes and have their own peculiar argot and culture of crime. The Empyrian countryside is bourgeois, with snug cottages on well-tended farms, comfortably rotund masters and matrons, and rosy-cheeked lasses and lads. Life in Empyrias tends to be organized around rules and guilds, with a place for everything and everything in its place. The typical Empyrian can't stand disorder and is helpless in unfamiliar situations; Empyrians are the kind of people who start speaking slowly and loudly to foreigners rather than learning another language. Foreigners often characterize Empyrians as fat, self-centered imperialists.
Empyrias has a variety of races, mostly human, half-aseku and aseku (high) along the coast and plainslands, with more aseku (wood, valley) along the shores of Mirablis lake, and (drow, grey) predominant in the Icewind Mountains. Some Holdless bade'in dwell near the Icewinds and Manacle Mts, as well. Skin color runs from fair to tan, hair from white-blonde to black, and eyes of all colors can be found in Empyrias due to much travel and trade with other Realms. Violet eyes are said to be a sign of Empyrian blood, and the Empyrian build is average, with country dwellers tending to be overweight.
Snowkeep is ruled by Elos (Guardian) Imre Chastain, an aseku of grey lineage. Elos Chastain is a fair and respected ruler, and is rumored to speak the tongue of animals, as she has been known to call together wolves, bears, and wild stags to protect her lands or drive off unwanted intruders. Her people are never attacked by wild animals while in her lands. Deeper into the realm lies an elven hospice (TSR's Country Sites, The Place of Broken Dreams). This land is more druidic and seems more Arquian than many other Empyrian lands. Locals ski or skate during the winter.
Yeovil: Yeovil Dominant
Yeovil Dominant is dominated by Keephame, the great cathedral-fortress of the Elder Gods. This majestic building rises atop the highest pinnacle of the mountains, its leaping buttresses and spires glittering in the cold, thin air. It is currently run by the grey aseku Tripudiate Szandastor Adhima'll Samskara. This is the center of learning and culture for the aseku, and its prestigious library is often visited by mages and scholars doing research. They are allowed to visit the monastic institution, as long as they are always accompanied by an aseku guide. People in Yeovil tend to value knowledge and seem a little mystical to outsiders.
Liskeard: The Republic of Liskeard
[Map: Chaosium's Tulan of the Isles]
Liskeard is ruled by Chastaine Lords, and is called the home of free hierodules. The satamharanthu nearly destroyed this city for its opposition to the invasion, and Liskeard is still in the process of rebuilding. Naturally, Liskeard has good relations with the Exaltancy of Warepass, and it is also a stop on the River Feargh. The only other town of note within its borders is the primarily bade'in town of Aire, high in the mountains. The hierodules and others in Liskeard value tolerance and are proud of setting an example for others.
Candor: The City-State of Candor
[Map: Palladium Book II: Old Ones - Aracho]
The City-State of Candor is the old seat of the Dominions and housed the dragon-imperate and his forces before the Theophany. The capital, Mynedd Palace, is a tall palace of pale marble with towers tiled in glittering glass - once Glassteel. Now its famous Opal Throne is empty as factions war for its possession. Candor was hit hard by the collapse of magic and the closing of all portals, and its inhabitants are trying to rebuild at the same time as the streets are filled with fighting. Although Candor's borders were close to its walls, it has also traditionally been allied with most of middle Empyrias, taking food and other goods in exchange for protecting the roads and villages. Thus, allied with Candor are the cities Flamborough, Stroud, Requias, Tiverton, Severn, Kendal, Alnwick, Rison, Tathlina, Caister, Scafell, Kilvane, Rushden, Teslin, and Baille. Candor has the largest seaport in the Cognoterre, and is also the end port of the River Feargh.
Oscoro: The School of Nekros
[Map: "The School of Nekros," Dungeon #27, p. 54, Lisa Smedman]
The School of Nekros is ruled by a man who calls himself the Prelector, and is dedicated to training necromancers. Although much of this subterranean school was destroyed during the post-Theophanic derth of magic, most of the necromancers survived. Oscoro lies deep within the Sunpoint Mountains, past the Scorch, and has little contact with the rest of Empyrias. The close-lipped locals are considered "odd" by outsiders.
Tharsis: The Care of Tharsis
[Map: DM's]
The Care of Tharsis is a ruin; it was razed by the invading satamharanthu for having housed and protected a renegade asura-kevalin called Tocair (see Campaign notes under Heroes of Tharsis and Shattering Wars in the Site Index). The trees around Tharsis were covered with crucified bodies, and many have since grown around the skeletons of the slain. Travellers say this land is haunted.
Carnutum: Carnutum Trust
[Map: RuneQuest, the City of Pavis]
Carnutum Trust, on the island of Carnutum, was closely allied with the City-State of Candor and housed the dragon-imperate's Tarin Tor. The island was shaken by the Night Sun blast that collapsed the Tarin Tor's extradimensional barracks and gates. Now the remaining buildings are charred and twisted, the very stone itself melted into uncanny shapes by the magical energies that poured through the island. A huge lighthouse towers over Carnutum's shores, lighting the way into the Candor port. This magic item survived the purge, and when magic returned it once more lit the ocean, although its light has turned from a welcoming gold to a forbidding ice-blue.
