Atlas Elyden #54 - the Growing Mountains of Mulciber

Here's map #54 of the Atlas Elyden, depicting the 33 different tribes of Mulciber.

You can refer to the companion post from today detailing all the regions named in the map, if you're interested in the map. This is one of the most label-intensive maps that I've made in a long time and there's loads of settlements making up the 33 different tribes.

I also tried experimenting with the tribal symbols, in the inset map, but thought they were too childish, so I went for a map depicting the different tribal names instead. As far as the complete map goes, I think this option works better overall

You can find an updated key to the map here.

This is the low-res version available to everyone.  Become a Patron at the Acolyte tier for access to my back catalogue of High-res, PSD and textless maps.

This is available to use as per the CC licence on the image itself

You'll note that there is no PDF for Encyclopaedia entries as the Encyclopaedia Elyden is now available to all patrons to view - the post is stickied on my Patreon, and patrons at any tier (even as little as $1 month) have access to it. The PDF is a living document and will be updated monthly as I add content to it. You can find it here.

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A history of the Growing Mountains of Mulciber.

Originating from the early Fifth Age nation known as Allucita, Mulciber is a war-torn landlocked region that is embroiled in its own petty ideological quarrels. Encompassing the Growing Mountains and lands to their south, Mulciber was funded in c. -350 RM following 200-years of expansion under the leadership of the otherworlder Nephthalont, who in c. -400 RM usurped Allucita from its then ruler after killing him.

Allucita was a powerful landlocked nation situated to the west of the Growing Mountains. It was bordered by barbarian tribes that lived in the foothills that would often descend into lowland areas to loot and pillage. Allucita developed strong military forces and defensive lines in response to this, which had the adverse effect of forcing the barbarian tribes farther south and north, where they concentrated on less well-defended targets.

Occupying steep rocky valleys that led to the west, Allucita was in the rain shadow of the Growing Mountains, so rain was sparse, though it was fed by many freshwater springs. Most of its settlements were positioned close to these springs, along river banks  or otherwise drew water from underground aquifers, leaving the rest of the nation sparsely populated by shepherds and small villages. Life was harsh, and most major cities were the centre of mining operations where ores and minerals were extracted. The rulers and industrial magnates grew rich off the labours of a combined lower-class and slave caste that lived in squalor.

It was on midsummer’s eve -432 RM that astronomers noticed the constellation of Haagenti had lost a star. This signalled the birth of an otherworlder upon the Material plane, one who would later be recognised as Nephthalont. Mulcibian historians have pieced together the two years that preceded the otherworlder’s rise to power in Mulciber.

Like many otherworlders, Nephthalont were burdened with a great purpose that was beyond their grasp to fully comprehend. Similarly, like other otherworlders, they observed the Material plane as aliens, their emotions wholly different to those of mortals, whose mannerisms and petty squabbles were indecipherable to them.

They arrived on Elyden fully-formed, with a pre-formed knowledge of sorts. Perhaps memories from a past life, perhaps premonitions of what was to come. They did not know. A single word resounded within them, its purpose or meaning unknown: Mulciber.

They wandered for a year in the desert of Anubis, encountering mortals for the first time in an oasis there. The experience was jarring, like someone underwater looking out at someone talking on land and failing to understand or even see them clearly. Their next encounters with mortals were little better, but slowly, they were able to understand them enough to make their way in the mortal’s world. Wherever Nephthalont went, they heard the word Mulciber, until learnt it was a place - or would become a place, sometime, in the future. They travelled west, finding a land called Allucita. In its heart was Mulciber, only it was not there yet. Yet, they saw it anyway, waiting for them in the future.

They went to the capital, Metebdan, effortlessly avoiding its guards, and appeared before its ruler, seeing in his eyes their destiny and the nation of Mulciber. They killed it, assuming leadership of the nation overnight, bringing them that much closer to realising the promise of Mulciber.

This wreaked havoc across the nation, with most of the populace objecting to this solitary coup, though a few quickly came to worship the otherworlder as a deity, sent to liberate the workers from the shackles of their bondage. Attempts were made against the ‘life’ of Nephthalont by various groups and individuals, though none were successful.

Every failure served only to elevate the otherworlder further in the eyes of the Allucitans. This belief spread rapidly across the nation, and soon the otherworlder was supported by the vast majority of the populace, to the annoyance of the landowners and magnates.

Over time Nephthalont had their detractors excised, and claimed their lands in the name of Allucita, replacing them with loyalists who oversaw operations in their name. Slaves were freed and workers were given rights they never dreamt of before. And through it all, their driving force was the word Mulciber, which could not be excised from their dreams.

Nephthalont were restless, their thoughts haunted by the echo, memory, vision, of Mulciber. In their restlessness they expanded the borders of Allucita, and within 50-years have claimed all territories surrounding the Growing Mountains for themselves, bringing the leaders of the disparate tribes under their banner.

Only when the entirety of the Growing Mountains had become theirs did Nephthalont rest. What had for fifty-years of renewed life been a curse, became suddenly a balm. They knew then that the time was right and so was born the empire of Mulciber.

Fortified by their God-king, the workers of Mulciber were productive, each mine and quarry working tirelessly to exceed their competitors. The God-king would travel across its territories, accompanied by a growing entourage of priests, demagogues and other sycophants, blessing the workers and praising their efforts. To many, this was payment enough for their labours.

Mulciber grew wealthy and merchant caravans traded freestone and adamantine, and later platinum, and aluminium, north with Siriphas, and west with Aethios. The cult of Nephthalont grew and became a pillar of Mulcibian culture, with its populace becoming devoutly loyal to the God-king. Its clergy were leaders of both spiritual and material matters and the highest amongst them were the ahhas, acolytes of the God-king, considered its closest students and teachers of its ways. In time they would become revered as holy symbols, with divine rights second only to those of Nephthalont.

The next centuries were relatively quiet as the cultures of neighbouring regions grew in the wake of the Fading of the Fourth Age. civilization was returning to normalcy. Trade prospered and communication between people’s lead to a spread of rediscovered and new technologies alike. It was a golden age, of sorts, where the sins and horrors of the past were forgotten, replaced with hope for the future.

To the distant north, an empire appeared, growing rapidly, subjugating nation after nation, until it came to dominate the area around the Inner Sea. This Korachani empire was technologically advanced and its people were experts at manipulating iron and creating machines. They hungered for resources to fuel their industries, and looked abroad for lands to exploit.

Mulciber had little contact with Korachan, though the northern empire’s interests in expanding its borders had brought it close in its invasion of the Citadel Mounts in c. 350 RM. It established a government there in 353 RM and within a few decades then Korachani administration there would change the name to Ehbot.

From Ehbot, Korachan looked to the south and between c. 400 and 420 RM would establish various colonies and outposts, reaching as far east as Suur’ka and as far south as extant Rhinocoloura in its search for resources.

Mulciber did not take kindly to these aggressive moves so close to its territories and fortified its borders, sending armies to fend off imperial trailblazers. This led to a protracted border conflict that lasted until around 444 RM, with Korachani forces retreating to the north after their engineers were unable to fortify their positions. Korachan would later abandon Ehbot and the region would become known as Arkos, ruled by the adonic descendants of early Steel Legionnaires.

Following the Korachani abandonment of Ehbot, the region was allowed to progress naturally once more and an equilibrium was reached between the various nations. In Mulciber, Nephthalont had become disillusioned by the workings of mortals. They felt that the cult that had appeared around them had grown out of control and had come to dominate the lives of its subjects to a degree that was unhealthy. Increasingly they would leave the confines of their palace to wander the world without the influence of Mulciber. They would disappear for months at a time, and would emerge only under duress to attend official duties. It was in 1111 RM, during a rare public appearance, that they were shot dead in front of thousands of faithful.

This threw Mulciber into utter chaos.

The populace was thrown into a crisis of faith that would lead to a fracturing of the church into various culs, each of which dealt with the death of their god in different ways. This fracturing of the church spread to the government. The ahhas were unable to maintain control amid their own ideological squabbling, and the government crumbled late in 1112 RM. The nation was thrown into a civil war that lasted until around 1135 RM, during which time the region's economy ground to a relative standstill. Most industries faltered, though those that did not turned their overseers into powerful magnates whose descendants would go on to rule the immediate area.

A centralised government never re-established itself and the old rulers of Mulciber scattered across the Growing Mountains with their followers, claiming different territories across the mountains. In time many of those groups would further break apart or unite, and today they are referred to as the Fractured Tribes of Mulciber.

In the north, the Auereni grew more brazen in their attacks in the light of political and religious disruptions in Mulciber. With its capital a war-zone in which gangs of different faiths clashed for control, the rest of the nation was left defenceless. The Auereni barbarians would take advantage of this chaos and spread farther south into Mulciber, attacking isolated settlements and disrupting trade as political groups there quarreled amongst themselves.

The centuries following the death of Nephthalont were characterised by a steady decline of culture and increased xenophobia between the various tribes that had settled around the mountains. This, coupled with a growing focus on military, led to an area with adverse living conditions. Trade with outside regions eventually increased, with each tribe specialising in certain industries. The ahhas remained faithful to a generic representation of Nephethalont that ignored the teachings of the myriad new cults that surrounded the old God-king, and as a result lost their position of prestige amongst the people of Mulciber. In a bid to maintain a semblance of unity across the tribes, they encouraged trade across volatile borders, which was a dangerous endeavour.

They offered themselves as a link between the tribes and, over a hard-fought period between c, 1360 and 1425 RM, where many of their numbers were killed in border conflicts, were able to secure an uneasy truce between tribes, allowing merchants safe passage across the disparate lands.

Originally these merchant ahhas would try to condone the radicalised religious teachings that came following the death of Nephthalont, but the tribes wanted none of their proselytising. Eventually the ahhas would stop trying to unite the religions of the disparate tribes, which by then had solidified into major cultural identifiers of the different tribes, and instead became merchants, still clinging to their unified vision of Mulciber, revering Nephthalont as they had been before their death in 1111 RM.

By 1600 - 1800 RM the tribes had grown in number, settling at around thirty separate tribes, each with their own prejudices regarding the other tribes, and their own version of the cult of Nephthalont.

Early in the 22nd century RM Korachan marched against Siriphagos, all but ending trade along the Salt Road. Mulciber suffered from this and the armies of various tribes attacked the imperial siege, with reports of opportunistic Auereni forces attacking scattered Siriphagan settlements as well as Korachani attackers were also common during the time. As the Korachani attacks waned, so too did the brazenness of the Auereni barbarians, which continued to terrorise their neighbours, including nearby Mulcibian tribes.

In c. 2310 RM a charismatic shaper managed to unite several tribes from the north-west of Muliciber through marriages brokered between the many noble families, with her at the centre. This began a period that lasted for over five-centuries, known as the Shiunoth dynastic period. The shaper, whose name is now lost, hoarded Atramental knowledge, sharing it only with her closest acolytes and descendants, who would go on to become powerful Atramental shapers that used forbidden lore to achieve great power. The dynasty rapidly devolved into a cult of shapers that cared little for the region and squandered the wealth of the nation on building palaces where they studied dark shaping.

As generations passed, the shapers descended deeper into their depraved studies, their bodies becoming twisted by the Atramenta. In c. 2850 RM the final shaper of the so-called Shiunoth dynasty died, leaving no heirs and a broken nation which was plundered by Auereni attacks that led to a ‘dark age’ that lasted till c. 3000 RM, during which a series of city-states emerged that would, in time, adjust to and adopt the tribal structure that dominated the rest of the Growing Mountains.

In c. 2950 RM a trade agreement, known as the Reckoning of Peace, was brokered between Siriphagos and the tribes of Mulciber, which led to an uneasy friendship and helped speed up the recovery of the regions devastated by the Shiunothi dynasties. The years following the signing of the Reckoning was characterised by increased trade along what became known as the Stone Corridor, itself part of the Salt Road, where a well-guarded trade-route emerged between Arkos in the north to Noavatur in the south. Overseen by Siriphagan merchant lords, this trade-route brought renewed security to a dozen different nations, and lasted until 3103 RM - the year of the Sarastroan Sanction, where the Korachani empire granted autonomy to Sarastro and its ruler.

This led to renewed attacks from Sarastro on Arkos and Siriphagos, as well as the north-eastern-most Mulcibian tribes. The Auereni barbarians, which prospered in the dark ages following the decline of the Shiunothis dynasties attacked forces from all sides with equal abandon.

This period lasted till around 3240 RM and made allies of Arkos, Siriphagos and Mulciber, who worked together against the Auereni barbarians and Sarastroan attacks.

Today, each tribe maintains constant vigil of its fluxing borders. Contact, outside of firefights and border clashes, are uncommon between tribes, and the ahhas caste are now merchants, travel between tribes, bringing news and trade goods where they can.