Fact boxes for Alam Bethyl and Kolchis

Here are the fact boxes for the neighbouring nations of Alam Bethyl and Kolchis, located in the north of Llachatul.

These nations will be the focus of the next high-res and textless atlas map that will be published next week, exclusively for Acolytes, followed by the normal version the week after that. the Encyclopaedia Elyden is already updated with all the relevant entries related to the regions and their history.

Thanks all for your support :)

As always, feel free to point out typos in the comments :)

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ALAM BETHYL

A boreal nation located to the north of central Llachatul, surrounding the Sea of Adum, west of the Band Mountains and N of the Narahasaphael Mountains. Due to its latitude, most of its territories experience at least one 24-hour period of day and night every year in midsummer and midwinter, respectively, with its northernmost reaches having around a month of continuous light and day each year. It is cold and sparsely populated, with most of its cities lying south of the Polar Circle where the climate is somewhat more forgiving. To its north is the Lost Demesne that dominates the east of Raong, populated by the so-called Callow Hordes that harass its borders.

Descended from a mix of two people - an indigenous early Fifth Age people known today as the Tree-dwellers, who dwelt in forests of monolithic trees, most of which have now been cut down; and more recent early Kolchisi immigrants who moved there in around 900 RM -  the people of Alam Bethyl are now dour, and hard-working, seeing the people of the Inner Sea as entitled and obsessed with politicking and wars that squander their resources.

Insular and xenophobic, the people of Alam Bethyl are somewhat of a relic of ancient shamanistic times, living in defiance of the modern ages’ turn to industrialisation. Living in pastoral kindreds, their larger communities tend to gravitate towards their large pillar-temples, from where seasonal culling rituals take place. These rituals are designed to eliminate weak children and maintain strong bloodlines to keep their star-deities appeased. Its culture is based around this brutal practice of sacrifice, and is overseen by a shamanistic caste known as Sorcerers, who are known for their bestial death-masks and who revere various totemic beasts that are based on their ancient constellations. Many outside observers believe this sorcerer caste to be largely responsible for the regions’ past aversion to technology and progress, possibly as a means of maintaining power. Indeed, classical Atramentism remains strong in Alam Bethyl, which is thought to have a far larger proportion of accomplished shapers than Korachan and other nations around the Inner Sea region. Though over the past century the government has sought to excise power from the Sorcerers.

Alam Bethyl has been united under a Federalist government since 3482 RM, when its territories were forged anew following a civil war that gripped the region for three decades, eventually leading to the deposing of the ruling Sorcerer caste. There are nine largely autonomous states, each of which answers to the Federal Assembly, which is located in the capital in Sa Reth. The Assembly is currently ruled by Chancellor Asemma Ambaras.

Alam Bethyl has been a target of slavery and coastal raids for centuries and its culture has developed in response to this, with monolithic brutalist fortresses dotting its coastline, turning it into a veritable fortress. Bristling with artillery, garrisoned troops and well-trained martial shapers, these towers provide adequate defence against most slave raids, and are large enough to accommodate surrounding populations in times of need, with deep labyrinthine dungeons that are said to reach Carceri. So effective are these towers that some have become settlements in their own right, with subterranean dwellings serving as shelter and abodes to their people.

KOLCHIS

Located to the north of the Sea of Sekhem at the link between Western and Central Llachatul, Kolchis is lies to the east of the Band mountains and northwest of the Republic of Almagest. Mostly positioned to the north of the Polar Circle, it is a land of harsh beauty and biting northerly winds blowing from the distant Sea of Polaris. Its geography is characterised by two major rivers – the wide slow-moving Vandahar in the west and the fast Doeria in the east, around which its major settlements have appeared – and the Aesilian hills between them, from which the native name of Kolchis is derived.
    Kolchis is the northwestern-most remnant of the ancient extent of the Old Forest, and remnants of this woodland can be found in the boreal forest of Marinyvaal, which is made up largely of pines, firs and spruce trees.
    Early Fifth Age Kolchisi people made contact with the ancestors of the Almagesti people, from whom they learnt astronomy and mathematics, both of which would go on to become an integral parts of their culture, serving as the roots to the Sabian religion, which first appeared here, though found its roots in Alam Bethyl, in the west. Kolchisi astrologers became so famous that by the height of the age of exploration in between 1500 – 2000 RM, royal courts across the Inner Sea were clamouring to have a Kolchisi astrologer amongst them, and though the tradition has since waned, Kolchisi astrologers can still be found in foreign lands, notably the Haréshk, Saua, Malan, Hoamm, and Zion, amongst others.
    Throughout its history, Kolchis has been the target of pirates and slavers from the south, and for centuries its fractured states did little to aid in the lands’ defence against such predation from Almagest and its parent empire, Korachan. In around 1500 RM a Constellar of the region of Sychr began uniting people under his banner. He died before his work was complete but by 1580 RM his followers had completed the task, forging a united Kolchis. Its border with Almagest was fortified against the incessant slave raids and its coastline was guarded by a large navy. Small pirate raids still managed to siphon people and resources from Kolchis, but the new defensive efforts showed how vulnerable a divided Kolchis was to attack, and the commonwealth of people came to be readily accepted and has become ingrained in Kolchisi culture.
    These defences were a great boon in the later war with Almagest, which attacked it en-masse, across land and Sea in 2953 RM. Dragged on for decades, the war saw Kolchis loose much of its southeastern territories to the attacking forces, though the offensive slowed in the early years of the Fourth Millennium as events leading to the War of the Artifexes began to unfold.
    The war prompted Kolchis to fortify what remained of its southeast, and the legion remains heavily fortified to this day, and the Kolchisi practice a citizen levy that sees all people who come of age drafted into a well-trained and funded militia, where they spend 3-years patrolling the border.
    In 3164 RM the Republic of the Kolchisi Commonwealth was dissolved as the ruling body, with its last ruler, Lanayash I, taking on the mantle of Lord-Constellar, beginning the house of Horúk, which remains the ruling house to this day. The republic remains an important part of government, and since reformations in 3654 RM, it wields as much power, if not more-so, than the Lord-constellar, and its regional lords, known as tudlords, are influential.
    In 3164 RM Lanayash I proposed reforms to the Kiriastrian religion, whose leaders, the Asarlai, he feared were growing too powerful. The Asarlai refused his changes, beginning a religious schism that saw the Kiriastrian church sundered, its members embroiled in a bloody war that ended in 3167 RM with the new orthodox sect triumphant. The Asarlai who remained swore fealty to Lanayash I and all future Lord-Constellars, who from then on became the heads of the religion (making them both the head of church and state), keeping ultimate power from the Asarlai.