The Campaign Builder's Guild

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[spoiler=Flag of the House of Deovus][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Map of Ketta][/spoiler]
"We have ruled from the shores of Luria to the isles of Vestin and to the mountains of Cynath, and half the world is fluent in our ancient tongue. We hold a thousand years of history within our vaults, and possess the three finest schools on the continent. We have the most powerful military in the world, and every prince and duke fears our name. Our currency is accepted in the halls of every lord and pauper, and our markets flood with goods from across the world. Tell me, what has your civilization accomplished?" -General Anatos Bureil's last words, 602 RA


Exports: Crops, livestock, cloth
Locations of Interest: Rhodon City (capital), Ketaad,  The Kettan Archives, Port Awen
Population: 25,245,000 (55% Rannish, 24% Baltian, 9% Arvian (various), 5% Callistonian, 4% Zolan 1% Avonese, 3% other)
Economy: Mixed (mercantilism with feudalist farming)
Currency: Kettan Jor (gold piece)
Primary Languages: Kettonian, Southern Trade
Head of State: Emperor Kolann I
State Religion: The Ancient Church of the Rionian Pantheon

The Kettan Empire does not have delusions of grandeur, for that would imply its inherent magnificence was a false construct. Once the captains of a massive empire that spanned a third of the continent, the Kettans remain a potent and vibrant force in politics, trade, and warfare. Craftsmen from every corner of Ornaea flock to Kettan marketplaces to sell their goods, and its many port cities and powerful navy prove attractive for traveling merchants as well.

History:
According to myth, the ancient city of Ketaad was established by Vilius Joran, the descendent of a tribe founded by the legendary warrior Ketrius. Joran, who was the son of a Ketrian warrior and the Dethinian god of knowledge, raised the city from stone and earth using his semi-divine powers. He named the city Ketaad in honor of his ancestor, and other members of his tribe soon settled within the city walls. After several decades, the formerly nomadic Ketrians became the city-dwelling Ketaadians, and began to expand their influence and settlements further and further, coming into war with other tribes and exhibiting greater numbers, more sophisticated weaponry, and better tactical ability in most conflicts.

After two hundred years of similar expansion, a loose alliance of city-states bearing the same ethnic makeup had come into being, stretching from the southern shores of Nuran to the deserts of Arona. The cities of the Molodorian Sea began to see a marked increase in naval exploration and the beginnings of intercity trade, all of which demanded further cooperation between the allied city-states. Constant economic spats and repetitive wars began to destabilize the region, leaving the cities vulnerable to attacks from Xanthian and Remardian raiders. As each city attempted to exert its influence over the others, the armies of Ketaad marched relentlessly, putting an end to disputes and eventually securing peace and loyalty between the kings of each city. When the kings gathered in Rhodon to discuss strengthening their alliance, they agreed unanimously that King Gregorium of Ketaad should be crowned the first Emperor of a unified Kettonian Empire, embracing all branches of the ancient Ketrian tribe and signaling a new era of peace and stability.

Short months after the informal alliance of the cities was transformed into a formal government, the newly-unified military was put to a decisive test. The Azran Empire, a civilization to the East that had long been separated by treacherous waters and the Xurask Mountains, had conquered the southern reaches of modern Incorra and began to mount attacks on Kettonian territory. Emperor Gregorium appointed Soben, King of Rhodon, to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Unified Imperial Army, and a long and grueling war was waged. After twenty years, the Azran Empire had withdrawn entirely from the Incorran region, leaving behind cities, fortresses, and armaments that the Kettonians quickly captured. In the final days of the war, Emperor Gregorium I died of old age, leaving the throne to his competent son Xandius. His first act as Emperor was to decommission the army of the Azrai-Kettonian War.

Unwilling to set aside his arms, Soben attempted a coup d'etat against the Emperor, an act that disrespected both the alliance Soben had helped ratify and the other Kettonian kings. However, with no comparable army loyal to him and without his father's prestige, Xandius found himself at a serious military disadvantage, and similar orders of recall from the various Kettonian kings proved equally ineffective at dissuading Soben's army. Reluctantly, Xandius negotiated a careful peace with Soben, one that offered a balance of power between the military and the civil governance.  

In the three hundred years that followed the Azrai-Kettonian War, the borders of Kettonia expanded and contracted, Ketaad was sacked, razed, and rebuilt, the majority of Ornaea began the process of establishing permanent settlements, and the alliance of Kettonian kings dissolved. After a series of civil wars, the empire fell into disarray, splitting into several small kingdoms and republics.

After two hundred years of infighting and turmoil, Ketaad and its surrounding cities united as the province Ketta Prime. Their explicit intention, to unite the former Kettonian Empire under one government, was met with derision and discomfort by its neighbors, many of whom participated in the Baltian Alliance of Republics, which disavowed the region's Kettonian roots and proclaimed themselves an entirely new culture and ethnicity. In a series of violent conflicts that lasted thirty years and became known as the Kettan Imperial War, Ketta Prime established its mastery over the cities of Atrius (now known as Cazil's Pass), Radamarrington, Rhodon, and Rudregon. Kettan expansion was then halted by a series of unusually cold winters and subsequent famine, both of which required attention from the imperial government. Nevertheless, the Kettan Empire would emerge as a prominent military and political force, causing its neighbors--the Avidian Empire to the north, the Azran Empire to the east, and the Baltian Alliance of Republics to the south--to further galvanize their defenses against a possible Kettan attack.

In 2033 of the Dethinian Age, about seven hundred years after the founding of Ketaad, the mighty dragon Jazantri attacked the city of Ketaad, killing most of its inhabitants and proclaiming himself ruler of all mankind. As the Emperor was slain during the draconic occupation, it fell to the Commissioner of Rhodon, Laurentius Hyrivian , to liberate the Empire from the threat of Jazantri. With the help of Aladon d'Miiriset, a mighty Vultish wizard, Laurentius defeated Jazantri and was quickly crowned Emperor by the Council of Elders, the governing body responsible for establishing the line of succession. Within weeks, Laurentius had devised a new system of shared Kettan governance that distributed power between regional, local, and Imperial authorities, and this method of bureaucracy laid the groundwork for future Kettan expansion. As Ketaad had been utterly demolished, Laurentius also moved the capital of the Empire to Rhodon.

In the year 2100, the Dethinian Age came to an end as the gods engaged in a spectacular war against one another. The war soon spread to the mortal plane, as civil strife and insecurity began to plague most established governments. The Emperor of Ketta, Laurentius II, publicly endorsed Rionisis, a god of travel and hidden knowledge, and his pantheon as the true gods of Ornaea. By waging war against external heretics, especially the adherents to a monotheistic religion in the Zolan Heights and a dualistic religion in Al-Asuul, the Kettans earned the favor of Rionisis, and an army of angels was loaned to the Emperor for times of immediate crisis. Although the specific conclusion of the divine war was never made known to mortals (with each pantheon claiming itself the victor, content to lord over its remaining worshipers), the Kettans found a new purpose in the newly-proclaimed Rionian Age, proselytizing what they perceived to be the truth of the religious conflict. Laurentius II consecrated the grounds of the Imperial Palace and proclaimed himself Holy Kettan Emperor, the mortal agent of divine will.

Although all nations were convinced of their divine right to rule, few had divine power to back their claim. The priests of the Rionian deities gained prestige within the government of the Empire, both for their ability to communicate with the angels in the Emperor's service and for the powerful magic they wielded.

During what is called the Middle Imperial Era, the Kettan Empire found an unprecedented advantage in expansion to the north and west of Ketta Prime. The stated goal of the Empire, as articulated by Holy Emperor Dominicus V, was to "civilize all of Ornaea, educate its peoples of the glory of Rionisis, and enrich the citizens of our most blessed realm." By utilizing its angelic army to augment its traditional military, the Kettans found themselves the undisputed master of northwest Ornaea, their Empire bound only by the Azran Empire to the east and the unforgiving Aronian deserts of the south. Baltia was crushed beneath the angelic army of the Holy Emperor, and even the Xurask Mountains, which had for so long prevented direct war between the neighboring Kettan and Azran Empires, seemed conquerable in the pursuit of continental domination.

In 443 RA, after a number of small-scale conflicts between Azran and Ketta had brought the two empires to the brink of war, the death of an Azrani diplomat during a Kettan Imperial Navy raid in the Molodorian Sea sparked a massive war that lasted for two centuries. During the long centuries of war, the angels of the Kettan Empire and the protector spirits of Azran both withdrew from the conflict as both the Church of Rionisis and the wise men of Azran committed to neutrality and peace rather than the forces of imperalism. As a result, the Kettan Emperor exiled the leaders of the Church of Rionisis and banned the worship of any god but Sicloran, a Rionian deity of war, honor, and martial glory.

In 654 RA, after two centuries of relentless war, five Kettan generals brought their armies into the Xurask Mountains and commandeered the fortresses therein. During the two centuries of war, Ketta had lost many of its periphery territories, now relying on its colonies on the islands of Vestin and throughout Zola and Al-Asuul to provide the resources and income necessary to supply its army. Azran was in an equally deplorable state, having lost most of its southern territory to the newly-established Qan Dynasty and much of its northern lands to Remardian tribes.

As such, the five generals, collectively known as the Iron Generals, found both Ketta and Azran at states of inability, and proclaimed their neutrality to the conflict and refused both Kettan and Azrani troops passage. With no direct region to perpetuate the war and in severely diminished capacity, the Great Imperial War came to an end quietly, with the peace being formally signed in 656 RA. Among the most important provisions was the establishment of the Neutral States, each to be ruled by one of the Iron Generals, whose explicit goal was to prevent the titanic empires from engaging in direct warfare ever again.

With the end of the Great Imperial War, the Church of Rionisis was restored to legal status by Emperor Kirenius I, a member of the new ruling family of Thuroon. Kirenius the Great, as he is commonly referred to by Kettan historians, established the institution known as the Kettan Archives and decentralized the powers of the Emperor. Although the Empire had lost much of its former wealth and prestige because of the ravages of war, a time of healing and peace lasted for the remainder of Kirenius' reign, which spanned three decades.

After Kirenius' death, civil war broke out between his successors. The first, his grandson Demarkus, was a delusional despot who believed himself to be the son of the god Sicloran. The second, his nephew Kirenius, was a decorated veteran of the Great Imperial War and a respected figure in the Empire. The civil war lasted three years, after which the Kirenius ceded the northern territories of Incorra and Avidia to the deranged Demarkus. Demarkus went on to establish the Kingdom of Arvia, which spanned the entirety of modern Cynath, Torath, and most of modern Incorra at its inception.

The following centuries saw the usual wars, expansions, and losses that the Empire had experienced for most of its existence. Another serious insurrection rocked the Empire in 862 RA, when a confederation of southern cities, taking the banner of the historical Baltian Alliance, fought for and won their independence from Rhodon. The Vestinites overthrew Kettan rule in 924 RA, and the Aronian and Cazuran armies ousted the last remaining Kettan governors in 1100s RA. To most of Ornaea, Ketta was in decline, a mere shell of its former glory and prominence.

In 1214 RA, the Kettan Empire declared war on the Baltian Alliance. In five short years, Kettan troops were marching in every Baltian city-state, and the Alliance's impressive navy had sworn their loyalty to Kettan Emperor Kirenius VIII. In 1226 RA, the aspiring commander who had led the Kettan military to glory, General Maximelius Detrivan, was promoted to the post of Commissioner of Rhodon, thereby making him the youngest Commander-in-Chief in Kettan history. His first act as Supreme General of the Kettan Imperial Army was to reclaim the Citadel of Soben from Cazuran rule, thereby securing the most sacred fortress in Kettan military history and a foothold on the Dekarran peninsula. The island of Avon was seized after a lengthy series of naval skirmishes between 1228 and 1234, after which the Avonese Admiral Mohen Lorell was appointed Commodore of His Imperial Majesty's Fleet. In 1235 RA, a coup d'etat was staged against the foppish Emperor Gregorium XI by Kolann Deovus, who subsequently became Emperor.

Kolann, who was confirmed by a unanimous vote of the Council of Rhodon, is a popular emperor whose expansionist goals are internationally known. A former priest of the war god Iothor and a former commander of the special military unit Black Talon, Kolann has a working relationship and a keen understanding of Maximelius Detrivan, as the two share many ideals and goals. After centuries of depleting influence and diminishing importance in international affairs, Kettans are eager to embrace a warlike Emperor, and nationalist pride and ethnic tensions grow more fervent by the day.



Government:
In its current state, Ketta's government is composed of several Imperial bodies, each of which is answerable to one of three authorities.

The most prominent offices in the Kettan Empire are those of the Emperor and of the Commissioner of Rhodon. Although several ruling houses have established themselves as the successors to the Imperial Throne in previous generations, the current Emperor, Kolann Deovus, achieved his status through violent, though brief, revolution. The Emperor appoints most bureaucratic positions within the civil governance, can issue titles of nobility, regulate currency, and establish laws of trade and commerce with relatively little oversight. The Imperial Guard is the only legal military force in Ketta that answers exclusively to the Kettan Emperor.

The Commissioner of Rhodon, also known as the Commander-in-Chief of the Kettan Military, is afforded the highest title of his branch and is the second most powerful man in the Empire. The current Commissioner, Supreme General Maximelius Detrivan, wields considerable prestige and respect among the denizens of the Empire and especially within the ranks of the military, who appreciate his stern demeanor and fierce representation within the halls of governance. The Commissioner appoints offices related to the military, policing, and the protection of diplomats and politicians (with the notable exception of the Emperor himself).

The Council of Rhodon is the organization that decides lines of succession, as well as the legitimacy of Imperial decrees (though it does not have the power to revoke them). The Council must approve candidates to the office of Commissioner, and it is responsible for the selection and coronation of Emperors. As a result of these important tasks, its members are appointed in various ways; two are elected by the Kettan Senate, two are appointed by a sitting Emperor, two are appointed by the Commissioner of Rhodon, and one is appointed by the High Priest of Rionisis.

The other most notable office within the Kettan government is the Master Archivist of the Kettan Archives. Appointed by the Council of Rhodon and confirmed by the Commissioner, the Master Archivist is responsible for the maintenance of the massive fortress that houses the Archives, as well as the preservation of its materials and contents. In addition, laws proclaimed by the Emperor do not take effect until they are filed and sealed by the Master Archivist, a nuance of Imperial law that has caused numerous conflicts between Archivist and Emperor. The current Master Archivist, Ando Mureil, is a soft-spoken scholar who files Kolann's decrees immediately and without question, though it is rumored that Mureil is in poor health. His most prominent disciple, the bellicose Anjou Mueraes, is believed to despise the Emperor and would likely obstruct Kolann's rule whenever possible.


Religion:
 The official religion of the Kettan Empire, as with most of Western Ornaea, is the Ancient Church of the Rionian Pantheon. The religion's holiest sites and its highest ranking clergy reside within Ketta, and many Imperial administrative tasks require either Church approval or have a religious office associated with it. Kettan Emperors have been traditionally afforded the office of Pontifex Optimus Maximus, the highest religious title available; since the Rhodon-Agamarr split, it has become ceremonial for the Emperor to refuse the office.

[blockquote=Elven Doritos]In 2033 of the Dethinian Age, about seven hundred years after the founding of Ketaad, the mighty dragon Jazantri attacked the city of Ketaad, killing most of its inhabitants and proclaiming himself ruler of all mankind.[/blockquote]Unexpected and made of pure awesome.  I almost wish this guy wasn't slain.  How common/powerful are dragons going to be?  Like, a handful of uber-dragons, or lots of dragons of varying power-levels?

I sort of missed Red Valor the first go round (before my time).  Is this a human-centric setting, principally?

Quote from: Steerpike[blockquote=Elven Doritos]In 2033 of the Dethinian Age, about seven hundred years after the founding of Ketaad, the mighty dragon Jazantri attacked the city of Ketaad, killing most of its inhabitants and proclaiming himself ruler of all mankind.[/blockquote]Unexpected and made of pure awesome.  I almost wish this guy wasn't slain.  How common/powerful are dragons going to be?  Like, a handful of uber-dragons, or lots of dragons of varying power-levels?

I sort of missed Red Valor the first go round (before my time).  Is this a human-centric setting, principally?

To answer the dragon queries, there are a very small number of dragons remaining in the world (I'll touch on this in the near future with a "Monsters of Ornaea" segment), and the ones that do remain are usually extremely powerful. Also, note that I was very careful to state that Jazantri was not killed, only defeated; I would prefer to leave it ambiguous for potential stories.

And don't worry about having missed Red Valor the first time around, this is functionally a reboot. Every aspect of the setting is being reworked from start to finish, and hopefully it isn't so self-inclusive as to be incomprehensible.

To answer the query about whether this is a human-centric setting or not, the original RVCS was bread-and-butter Gygaxian-Tolkien fantasy, with very little originality and quite a bit of cobbling of imported ideas. The new version of the setting will take a very magic-lite approach, as well as a more streamlined view of ethnicity; all ethnic groups are considered human, and most exhibit the physical attributes that we Earthians would consider human. More on that later.

How complete is this reboot? Are you merely filling in the parts you missed, changing thefoci, or are you actually erasing and rewriting parts?
And how magic lite?  

Quote from: Lord VreegHow complete is this reboot? Are you merely filling in the parts you missed, changing thefoci, or are you actually erasing and rewriting parts?
And how magic lite?  

Well, you can look at the difference in maps in the first post to get a good feel of the scale of the reboot. The nature of the world has changed, the number of magical and inhuman creatures is significantly dialed down (they're now mythic, unique, and I'm working on restoring the MAGIC to magic), and I'm taking the best ideas from the past setting, polishing them, and placing them in a coherent and much more promising framework.

As for the magic-lite, that's just a statement at the moment, I'm still working on how magic "works" in the setting. But considering I mostly intend for this to be a setting for fiction, magic will likely be scarce, and those who wield it will be few and far between. I'm thinking less than a thousand practitioners of magic left in the world, and less than a dozen well-known artifacts of myth.

I like the idea of making magic special and rare.  Having players go nuts when something is magic is great.

Entry on the way for Vestin. Here's the map.

 (click to enlarge)

Even the names of the towns scream 'hobbit-england'.  Hope you were going for that.  Which seems to be at odds with the Kettan Empire across the straits.  Kind of an interesting,  semi-incompatible development.  AM I nuts?  At least I give you the time to look...

Quote from: Lord VreegEven the names of the towns scream 'hobbit-england'.  Hope you were going for that.  Which seems to be at odds with the Kettan Empire across the straits.  Kind of an interesting,  semi-incompatible development.  AM I nuts?  At least I give you the time to look...

This will be addressed whenever I get around to finalizing the Vestin entry. (I started, but then had a sudden bout of poetic inspiration. I follow my muse, not my wishes.)

But the short answer is that yes, it's intentional, and the reason for the variance in names is that the Vestinites are of the Remardian ethnic and language group, rather than the Kettonian. There are Kettan names for everything on the isle, but years of separation and fierce opposition to Kettan imperialism both in the distant past and for the past several centuries has caused an intentional ethnic break. There are other historical empires and associations that also color Vestin's history (the Baltian Alliance helped the Vestinites wage several wars, Al-Asuulian interests have variably been represented, and during the times of diminishing Kettonian or Kettan influence, the islanders are often a bastion of cultural stability).

Again, this will make sense in a more linear fashion whenever I get the entry written.

Quote from: Lord VreegEven the names of the towns scream 'hobbit-england'.  Hope you were going for that.  Which seems to be at odds with the Kettan Empire across the straits.  Kind of an interesting,  semi-incompatible development.  AM I nuts?  At least I give you the time to look...

depending on how isolated an isle is, then I'll think it's not that uncommon that they'll develiope a different culture due to less cross pollination. the difference between southern England and Scotland being a good example of different culture develioping parallel of each other due to more or less intentional isolation and difference geografic circumstances.

So, I skimmed.  I've always had trouble with Red Valor, as it used to run contrary with my interests.  However, I've grown and so have you so we'll see if I can read some this time.  I have hope though, mainly because of this.

Quote from: Elven DoritosThe nature of the world has changed, the number of magical and inhuman creatures is significantly dialed down (they're now mythic, unique, and I'm working on restoring the MAGIC to magic)

Unfortunately, I follow my ADD, not my wishes, so good luck with the writing and I hope I'll find time to read some of it.

So Eldois special, and 'Natural 20' will read and comment on his stuff.  I mean, I know Red Valor is the bomb, ann all...
Must be nice, dude.

We'll see about the parallel development theory.  I'm Scottish, so I know what you mean, but I was getting a readically different take on the Kettan vs Vestin.  But hey, I'm open...

So who's Azrael?

Quote from: JaercSo who's Azrael?

More on this later. My laptop has not been kind to my attempts at writing while in seclusion, and explanations like this (and my promised write-ups) will have to wait until I return to civilization. But the short version is that he is one of the Nine Demon Kings 0f Omen-Shah, prehistoric rulers who were appointed by the gods after the failure of mortals to rule themselves. There's a war with dragons too.

Quote from: Elven DoritosTen thousand years ago, Ornaea's people were of a single race, held a single language, and ruled a mighty empire. The Verizor, these ancient people, made war with their neighbors, the Daimar and the Soraed. The Daimar retreated beneath the oceans and the Soraed ascended into the heavens, ruling the Verizor as gods.

Question: Perhaps I missed something, but if everyone was a single race with a single language, how did they have neighbors who were different than they upon whom they could make war?