The House of Ainsley
Keeper of the Dark Mirror
 Number of posts : 2312
Age : 52
Location : The Dark Heart of Bardosylvania
 |  Subject: The World of Ardonia: Regions, Nations and Houses  Wed May 09, 2018 12:14 pm | |
| | |
|
The House of Ainsley
Keeper of the Dark Mirror
Number of posts : 2312
Age : 52
Location : The Dark Heart of Bardosylvania
| | Subject: Fioriallia Wed May 09, 2018 3:16 pm | |
| [Fioriallia map goes here] In Brief Standing proudly in the sea at the far reaches of the Collum Hydrus peninsula, Fioriallia is the seat of the Eternal Empire, the heart of the Faceless and Eternal Emperor's vast dominion. She is a nation of wind-lashed beaches and rolling greenlands dominated by the towering Mount Tempestator deeply rooted in her center. What most commonfolk — and even some scholars — never realize is that Mount Tempestator now incorporates both the original stony, majestic mountain as well as a volcano — Mount Fumagori — which began as a fissure at Mount Tempestator's base, then grew slowly upward along Mount Tempestator's eastern slopes. Eventually, Mount Fumagori's peak collapsed into its own flue during a particularly tremorous eruption, and a side vent which had split apart and yawned against Mount Tempestator's face became the new flue, presently opening at a rough altitude of 5,600 feet along Mount Tempestator's total height of 9,573 feet from foot to summit...or at least the flue would be open if not for the Obturoculum Ignia, an enormous, 230-ton plug of granite engraved with numerous arcane sigils, bound in a tremendously long chain forged from black iron and lowered from the summit of Mount Tempestator along a channel carved into the mountainside, then into Mount Fumagori's flue. Through stone, steel and wizardry alike, the Obturoculum Ignia prevents Mount Fumagori from erupting so long as the plug remains in place.[Ainsley-NewWorldMap-Fioriallia-Obturoculum.png goes here] The Obturoculum Ignia was constructed and set in place by the dwarven subjects of Mount Tempestator after an exceptionally violent volcanic eruption almost claimed the life of the Faceless and Eternal Emperor himself, succeeding only in killing a goodly number of Celestial Guardsmen, two-thirds as many House Harrengart vassals and a measure of the Emperor's family in their summit palace as they ensured the Emperor's safe escape from from the consuming plume of burning smoke and volcanic ash. The wisest among Fioriallia's druids worry that the Obturoculum Ignia impedes the natural order of continuous destruction and renewal, cautioning that with no release for so much pressure brewing from below, the volcano may one day explode in a cataclysm of magnitudes never yet seen, perhaps great enough to reduce some measure of Mount Tempestator to so much far-flung rubble and volcanic bombs raining from the sky as far as Konegheim and Calaix. What high wizards have caught wind of these druidic warnings share such concerns, noting that the Emperor himself has heard such cautions as well yet seems not preturbed in the least. Perhaps, posit the wizards, the Emperor has a nondisclosed reason to be entirely confident in the Obturoculum Ignia's dependability. Perhaps he is merely overconfident, courting a fiery doom to be. Or perhaps — just perhaps — he intends to use such a cataclysm as a failsafe or a parting shot, for should all else fail and the Empire be faced with conquest or annihilation, one could merely order the tremendous plug to be drawn from the throat of Fumagori, obliterating Emperor, conqueror and mountain alike in one titanic eruption to end them all.
Two Imperial palaces grace Tempestator: In the capitol city of Pedemontis at the foot of the mountain's western face, the Palace Luminare, in which the Emperor holds court with his subjects and handles his daily affairs. And at the summit, the Palace Maiorem, in which most of House Deuscaelum — the Emperor's family — are secluded from the populace and guarded zealously and vigilantly by the Order of the Emperor. A footpath of sturdy dwarven roads, stairs and elevators — all manned and maintained by the Order of the Emperor — joins the two palaces and permits travel between them; the Emperor himself makes the journey once or twice every week, though less frequently if pressing affairs demand his close attention. And both palaces keep cages teeming with messenger doves at hand in case swifter correspondence between the two palaces is needed.
All visitors who comply with the laws of the Empire are welcome at the Palace Luminare, and anyone can apply for an audience with the Emperor. But know that the Emperor's time is understandably precious, and the Order of the Emperor's staunch administrators do their best to filter out any who would waste his time; those with lesser or more manageable concerns will be directed to one of Fioriallia's lesser Houses and granted an audience with that House's liege (with the notable exception of House Denezci, who rarely if ever receive visitors or handle public concerns), and those lower on the social ladder have been known to languish on the waiting list for years before attaining an audience with the Emperor or a lesser liege, if anyone deigns to grant their audience at all. Visitors are never allowed at the Palace Maiorem, however; friendly or courteous visitors can expect to be turned away with a firm yet diplomatic refusal from the Order of the Emperor's delegates, while known outlaws or brazen intruders will be met with the most stalwart force of arms that the Order's elite Celestial Guard can muster.Trade Fioriallia's exports include fishes, grapes (and other vine fruits), wines and naval vessels, though the many shipyards must often import their lumber for want of abundant Fioriallian woodlands. And yet, unusual among dwarven populaces, a small number of Fioriallia's dwarves are capable seafarers, the shipwrights among whom have already begun launching seaworthy vessels forged from tin, alumenic or zinc-heavy brass, though the largest of these metallic vessels is a mere coast runner. So the advent of unsinkable steel galleons dominating the oceans may yet be centuries away.
Several quarries near the western and southern bases of Tempestator provide stone for trade and export — with granite and marble being in constant demand — and though the dwarves of Tempestator must mine judiciously for the safety and well-being of the Emperor's family, the gigantic mountain is host to numerous lodes of iron, tin and silver, with trace amounts of adamantine from which the dwarves can forge their well-famed dwarven steel. To round out Fioriallia's lucrative exports, the volcanic side of the mountain provides sulfur and obsidian in good measure, though mere sulfur and obsidian pale before the luster of the greatest of all Fumagori's fruits: diamonds — including the black diamonds for which Fioriallia's gemstone trade is renowned — driven upward from the deep earth by volcanic forces to be mined by diligent dwarves and humans alike.
Rarest among the rarest, one of the two Black Regis Fiori diamonds known to exist could pay a king's ransom in itself (or so it is said), and so prized are these diamonds among the known world's aristocracies that the avaricious Duke Polbori of the Amethyst Coast waged a campaign against Fioriallia during the Tenth Century, pursuing his vain hopes of ousting the Emperor merely to wrest away control of Fioriallia's diamond trade; his campaign was rebuked quite soundly by the overwhelming brunt of a naval counterinvasion and, after he was taken prisoner, Polbori himself was coerced by the Emperor into working the igneous mines, where he spent the remainder of his years toiling for the Empire by digging out the same diamonds for which he had so covetously gone to war. May it never be said that the Emperor has no appreciation for irony when meting out punishments.History words[Ainsley-NewWorldMap-Fioriallia-FireKingWithSlaves.png goes here] words[Ainsley-NewWorldMap-Fioriallia-CloudGiantsDescend.png goes here] words[Ainsley-NewWorldMap-Fioriallia-FireGiantsCastDown.png goes here] words[Ainsley-NewWorldMap-Fioriallia-EmperorWithCelestialGuard.png goes here] wordsHouse Deuscaelum
[House Deuscaelum Coat goes here]
Motto: "Libertas Omnibus sub Caelo."
("Liberty is for all beneath the sky.") wordsThe Order of the Emperor
[Order of the Emperor Coat goes here]
Motto: "Nos Moriar. Unus Superstes. Omnes Superesse."
("We die. One survives. All survive.") wordsHouse Harrengart
[House Harrengart Coat goes here]
Motto: "Von Unten Greifen Sie An. Von Unten Verteidigen Wir."
("From below, they attack. From below, we defend.") wordsHouse Praederus
[House Praederus Coat goes here]
Motto: "In Singulus, Legionibus."
("In each one, a legion.") wordsHouse Silvastam
[House Silvastam Coat goes here]
Motto: "Numquam Fractus."
("Never broken.") wordsHouse Culdor
[House Culdor Coat goes here]
Motto: "Aurum Est Sanguis Imperia."
("Gold is the blood of empires.") wordsHouse Denizci
[House Denizci Coat goes here]
Motto: "Dokar Urzi Zakuk Borit Urzada Zakuk."
("Never show your face and you will never show your heart.") words | |
|
