Old World

The Old World consisted of a myriad of nations, both great and minor, spanning three continents: Revula in the West, Kothys to the South, and Edite to the East.. Almost every one of these nations spoke its own language, often with drastically different regional dialects, though most followed one of three religions: the Pantheon of Uton, the Church of Ohn, or the teachings of the Prophet Awaldir.

The United Kingdom of Estril
The United Kingdom of Estril only became united 52 years before the Disjunction. Previously, the island nation consisted of several smaller kingdoms and duchies that had been vying for power and independence for centuries. Through a series of strategic marriages, assassinations, and military conquests, King Faerhan of Weslund finally succeeded in unifying Estril under a single flag and then, even more impressively, made it more beneficial for the kingdoms to remain united than to splinter again after his death. Five years after the unification, King Faerhan granted a charter for the first colony in Corunda to Shephard Thomas Hirron, leader of the One Faith (a young religion loosely based on the state's Church of Ohn emphasising an extreme ascetic, disciplined lifestyle to achieve physical and spiritual perfection.)

Shephard Hirron's expedition had more than a few difficulties and setbacks, both from the unfamiliar climate and the hostile natives. Hirron himself was captured and sacrificed by goblins to their dark gods; according to legend, he smiled quietly and calmly even as the creatures ripped him apart. Nonetheless, the colonists persisted, and soon reports came to King Faerhan of vast natural resources and rich land just waiting for men to work it. Over the rest of his life, Faerhan issued more than a dozen charters, though in the end only six colonies took root.

Throughout this period, Estril was engaged in a series of wars and skirmishes with other Old World nations, particularly with their southern neighbors, the Republic of Astair. The two nations had, through aggressive colonization and trade, become the undisputed superpowers of Revula, and battled constantly for both economic and military superiority.

At the time of the Disjunction, Queen Joanna I, Faerhan's granddaughter, had just become embroiled in another war with Astair, this one an escalation over a quibble about borders between two minor states. Colonists in Corunda fully expected to soon be pulled into the conflict against their neighbors to the south, but fortunately, blood was never officially spilled between the colonies. Though they are theoretically still at war, most people on both sides seem to think there are much more important things to worry about.

Estril was a wealthy nation, reknown for their skill at shipbuilding and the historic accuracy of their longbowmen. Though the country was run by a monarch with absolute power, a Parliament did exist to allow both nobles and commoners to bring their concerns directly to the king or queen's attention. Despite considering themselves a noble and godly nation, Estrilian was deeply unpopular internationally, given their tendency towards ruthless exploitation and underhanded tactics. Slavery was technically outlawed in Estrilian, though indentured servitude was common and often exploited--a practice which continues in the colony of Verdane.

The Republic of Astair
The Republic of Astair was ruled by an elected Senate, which in turn elected a Potentate. Though officially there were strict limits on the Potentate's power, in reality, the position became largely autocratic over the centuries of Astair's existence thanks to increased unilateral power over military matters. Astair was driven by the wealth of their merchants and the strength of their armies, which, in times of peace, gained experience across Revula and Kothys as state-sponsored mercenaries. They were actually the first to discover Corunda and the first to found a colony, named Pionetto after the reigning Potentate, though sadly the settlement was massacred by hostile natives within a year.

In the decades leading up to the Disjunction, Astair sent a great number of colonists to establish footholds on the new continent. While they were successful in settling the Azure Islands, most of their other colonies to the south soon met the same fate as Pionetto, or simply dried up due to a lack of courageous settlers. Despite these setbacks, the wealth imported from these new lands, combined with their existing strength, propelled Astair into becoming one of Revula's two superpowers. Though the near-constant feuds with Estril tended to stalemate, Astair had great success in expanding further into Revula through annexing smaller countries and duchies into their growing hegemony.

Though Astaria's ruling class tended to follow the Church of Ohn, the country boasted a sizeable number of followers of the Prophet Awaldir, a younger faith based on Ohnism that believed its founder, Awaldir, was the last and greatest of Ohm's prophets. Despite centuries of friction between the two religions, they gradually came to coexist in the face of a greater god still: money. Priests of both faiths regularly decried the nation's lust for gold and conquest, though often enough, it was from behind a gold-filigreed pulpit in an ornately decorated temple.

Despite the excesses and hypocrisy of their leaders, the common people of Astair were widely known for being kind and generous, exceedingly brave, and extremely quick-witted. Astairian music is usually lively and upbeat, and they favor bright, bold colors in their clothes and decor. Even the poorest Astairian maiden owns a skirt of vivid scarlet, or a ribbon of a blue so bright it can make one's eyes ache.

Of course, it is difficult to discuss Astair without mentioning their most controversial institution: slavery. Slavery was extremely common in the Republic, and it existed in three forms. A typical Astarian peasant was technically a slave, bound in service to a land or business owner in exchange for a modest but comfortable standard of living. These peasant slaves were little different than the commoners of other nations, with relative autonomy and legal protection, though of course they could not vote for Senate candidates and could not relocate or travel without their master's express permission. The second class of slave consisted of prisoners of war taken from Astairian conquests. These slaves were typically put to the most grueling and dangerous forms of manual labor, such as mining or quarrying, though prisoners with valuable skills (or valuable political connections) were more often taken in by wealthy merchants as personal servants or craftsmen. The third and final class if slaves were convicted criminals, and they typically lived very short lives. Gladiatorial combat had remained popular in Astair for more than a thousand years, and most criminals would soon die in recreations of historical battles or as practice targets for professional Astairian soldiers.

Though few nations of the Old World still practiced slavery by the time of the Disjunction, and most officially frowned on it, Astair remained proud of the institution and claimed it created a stable, enduring society while also being more honest and open than the system of indentured servitude practiced in Estril. It continues unchanged in the Astairian colonies today, though the successful slave revolt on the island of Hego has inspired more and more talk of freedom among the lower classes of the colonies.