Name: Grand Kingdom of Bretonnia

Ovreview:
A land of chivalry and knights and very much a reflection of Authorian legends starkly contrasted with the oppression of its common masses. Its nobility is large and extordinarly wealthy compared to the peasants. Worship of the Lady of the Lake is widespread with many noble knights going out on Grail Quests to earn the Lady’s favor to drink from the blessed Grail Chalice. But centuries of traditions are being challenged by a new king, unlike any before him. Blessed by the Lady herself, their current king is actually of peasant blood with no noble lineage to speak of, he was ordained to be King of Bretonnia and all his descendants to be counted as noble. While popular with the peasants, the nobility only begrudgingly follow their King out of honor and respect for the Lady’s choices but the realm is far from unified.

Race & Culture

Humans make up the vast majority of peoples in the Kingdom, although some other races and cultures can be seen in the few urbanized cities of the realm.

Nobles tend to live in splendor and opulence while the peasantry is treated little more than like cattle or livestock at best by most. Anyone who isn’t a noble knight or a lucky merchant likely lives in

Worship of the Lady of the Lake is compulsory for the nobles who often undertake Grail Quests to earn her favor and be able to sip from the Holy Grail. Worship of the Lady is encouraged for even the peasantry by the nobles, but for the most part little thought it given to what they worship so long as its not Chaos entity.

Government

Britannia relies on the old ways of feudalism with a King ruling all of the Dukes and their Duchies. In law, everything in Bretonnia is the King’s but in particle sense, it doesn’t work like that. Noble blood is everything and only males can inherit titles. To be considered a noble, both of your parents and grandparents must have been noble, making anyone becoming a noble nearly impossible and their line will die out quickly after that. The King must confirmed by the Fay Enchantress for his rule to be validated and technically the Fay Enchantress has greater power than the King and can overrule him, but she rarely gets involved in politics. Kings must also must have complete a Grail Quest and drunk from the Holy Grail meaning there’s always a goo chance the king is competent.

This is why the current monarch, King York Gallowgoth, is so unique and controversial. He is not born of noble blood at all, yet the Lady of the Lake herself appeared and ordained the peasant as king and allowing. When the nobles boldly protested this break of tradition saying that he wasn’t a Grail Knight, the Lady simply gave York a blessed blade and sent him on his quest. Everyone thought he would die quickly, but instead he would complete his quest three years later after the Battle of Elmburough where he managed to hold down and entire flank with but a few Men-At-Arms who held their ground and even personally bested the enemy commander in single combat where the Lady appeared before him, allowing him to drink from the Grail. While the nobles do not respect him completely, they are none the less obedient to his rule, if not because of the Lady more than the man himself.

Industry

Bretonnia is backwards and perhaps the least advanced of all human nations. They have firmly resisted industrialization and have completely shunned the advent of gunpowder. Many things are still made by hand by skilled crafted by artisans although mills and simpler machines powered by wind and water are common.

The vast amount of wealth is held by the nobility with the peasant handing over 90% of their harvest and goods which is then handed back out and distributed by the nobility. There are the lucky peasants who have some how become merchants and are significantly better off the the peasant who are in a constant state of poverty, but still pale in comparison to the nobles. While “Crowns” are the official currency, produced in copper, silver and gold (hamlets are luck if they can manage to produce a few copper crowns a day; any peanuts who posses a single silver is considered to be extremely wealthy by most of his kin

Magic
Lore of Life
Lore of Heavens
Lore of Beasts
Lore of Fire

Army

Core:

Man-At-Arms - Entering the military is one o the few reliable ways of getting ahead as a peasant is to join the ranks of the local lord’s men-at-arms who often grant those who sign up a large and desirable sign on bonus. Only to reveal that said bonus has to be spent by the individuals on buying equipment for themselves. They wear chainmail with flat-top or kettle helmets and carry swords, spears and halberds along with shields that they can form into a Roman Testudo like formation.

Auxiliary Archers - By law, all Bretonnian peasants are required to know how to use the bow as to serve as levied archers in his lord’s army. Any who survive the entire campign are rewarded with a single copper crown as payment for their service. They use various types of longbows and war bows with several types of arrows ranging from fire to pox to heavy armor piercing but only have crude hand weapons and tools and no armor.

Knights Errant - Young, brash nobles who have yet to prove themselves and try to make up any shortcoming in skill and discipline with enthusiasm. Along with Knights of the Realm, they form the bulk of the army’s cavalry contingent. Their armor is always the flashiest as they try to show off their colors, much to the chargrain of the most experience soldiers. They charge forth with lance, blade and shield.

Knights of the Realm - The backbone of the armies of the Lady, these are knights who have proven themselves and have earned the right to own land having officially being inducted into the ranks of the nobility. They too have lance and shield and ride atop barded warhorses but tend to favor maces and war hammers over plain swords as their experience has taught them the blade is not great against armor.

Elite:

Battle Pilgrims - Either feral or fanatic peasants who have a zealous devotion to the Lady and her servants and unlike traditional Men-at-arms, they are willing to die to hold the line. They are often based out of a Grail Chapel or other holy sites and will use any weapons and armor that have been discarded by the knights and often make their own equipment by hand. They weird large shields, hand weapons and their distinctive high collar shoulder guards. Battle Pilgrims are not an official army unit, but no commander would ever turn down men and women willing to die for the Lady.

Grail Relique - When a Grail Knight dies, his arms, armor and even very body still hold holy magics imbued within them. Battle Pilgrims will often carry their hero on their shoulders, acting as the horse to the skeleton of the dead knight. Its very presence inspired all around it and those carrying the Relique would sooner die than drop it. This also holds a second purpose as their zealous guard of the body means that it cannot be touched by necromancers.

Foot Squires - Young men who are not yet old enough to mount a horse and act as Knight Errants, squires are essentially apprentices to older Knights to learn the ways of chivalry and battle, accompanying them to battle with great sword in hand. Every squire wishes to be a knight and every knight wishes for a better squire.

Questing Knights - Those who hear the clarion call of the Lady are driven to seek her favor and become Questin Knights. They ride out around Bretonnia and even the world doing chivalrous deeds and preforming brave, selfless acts in the hopes of being granted the Lady’s Blessing. Although their quests may take years and many die in their noble quests, there will always be those who seek the favor of their goddess.

Mounted Yeomen - Men at arms who have survived for so long and have become so experienced that they gain the limited right to ride lame or crippled horses. Yeomen are divided between being sergeants of Men-At-Arms regiments and being mounted scout cavalry with shield and spear or being mounted bowmen. Many of these Yeomen are as experienced and capable of the noble knights they fight with but the nobles have either ignored or even surpassed these boasts.

Pegasus Knights - Wild flying herds of pegasi are not uncommon in the lands of Bretonnia but it takes a particularly skilled hand to tame them, a brave (or foolish) heart to ride them and a wealthy bank to afford them. As such, only the wealthiest of nobles can ride to battle upon such steeds but they form the best flying warriors of the Old World.

Rare:

Grail Knights - Living incarnates of the Lady’s will, these knights have been granted favor of the lady and have drank from the Holy Grail making them near demigods with extraordinary strength, vigor and vitality as well as prolonging their effective lives greatly. They almost glow with an ethereal air about them and are the paragons of Bretonnian society, riding into battle with flaming lance or blade to destroy those who threaten the realm.

Trebuchet - The go-to siege engine of Bretonnia that has been around for generations. The trebuchet is never built to be transported and in the past only the important parts where kept and transported and most of the frame was built on site given the lack of people who can actually build and aim the damn with nobles having distain for such things and peasants being too stupid otherwise. However in recent years, the few engineers have found a way to make a “collapsible” trebuchet allowing for fast quicker transport and set up.

Skaal Guard - Once a tribe of northern raiders who built a settlement on the shores of Bretonnia, the Skaal Guard are a very recent formation where King Gallowgoth offered them an alternative to being put to the sword, acknowledging their press in battle. They’re a strange mishmash of both Bretonnian herald and tabards over Norscan bodies wielding norther great axes. Its said that the true reason why the King created the Skaal Guard was out of fear that having a more traditional bodyguard would open himself up to the plots of the nobles who wish to see him gone and that having a guard loyal to him first and not Bretonnian traditions would protect him. While many question their loyalty, they have served with unwavering courage and ferocity unseen in Bretonnia as they charge into the frey.

Lords:
Paladins
Grail Maidens

Heroes:
Knight Champions
Damsels
Battle Pilgrim Abbot

Named Characters:
King York Elmhart
Duke Montepier
Duke Louis
Fay Enchantress
The Green Knight
William Woods

NAME: The Divine Confederated State of Zvagheldt and Iorge: Zvageorg.



OVERVIEW:
The State of Zvageorg is a massive confederation of smaller states and territories under a single Tyrant being responsible for a lot of the current balance of power by it's size and connection to water as well as very large border. The Confederation has a very large army that is constantly expanding, re-arming and training because the days it was at peace are very few.

RACE AND CULTURE:
Humans are the only ones who populate the Empire without fear of ending up as a citizen's lunch, though via anointment in the Holy Rivers the men of Zvageorg have gained the strength to conquer many of their neighbors. The State has an ancient history; it all started in the geographic area known as Zvagheldt. There were plenty of villages of man, but what there was in common between them was that they were ruled by foreigners with different appearance and odd tongues, or even non-humans. One day however, this all seemed to change when a hero said to have been anointed at birth in the blessed rivers to give him his great stature, strength and wisdom. He slayed many of the outsiders but with each village he brought some of the rulers before the villagers, and told them that either they vow to lead lives of goodness to their fellow man, and to also anoint themselves and children in the blessed rivers or he would let the horrid enemies go who would inevitably think up a punishment for the peoples.

Eventually the hero let his name "Iorge" be known and after single-handedly slaying almost all which presented threat to local human hegemony he came to rule as Tyrant (for that was the only name known to use for governors to the people) of the people, creating a golden age full of advancement and prosperity, and making a large family as example to his people. Eventually, the relatives of the foreigners he slaughtered plotted against him, and convinced the peoples under his rule that he was truly oppressive, and that he himself was going to steal some hidden treasure of the land and run off with it. Thanks to their vile sorcery, it worked. Eventually the people banded against him and under the guise of a feast tied him to a stake which they lit on fire to the glee of the conspirators about. Miraculously, the gag that the tricksters recommended be put on him burned before Iorge himself did, and he uttered a final defiance telling the people to hate the alien, the sorceror, and the traitor or enemy within. Angrily turning around, the people launched the first ever Crusade and rapidly expanded the territories of their lands wholly exterminating many a race in their path. After nearly a decade, they were war weary and in their hero's name established a state and religion, Zvageorg for the former and the grand cult of the Crusader for the latter. Old Gods were put on "the choir of the Saints" and more or less forgotten, and ever since then people have anointed children or conquered humans in the rivers of the state whilst launching great Crusades to expand it's land quite often.

Recently, after having a massive growth the Empire has slowed down it's expansion with Crusades and now wages the "long war." Slowly it expands by building a few villages here and there, by building roads into borders that didn't have them before; it spreads like a disease to surrounding areas into which the culture, religion and ideas go and eventually, they snap to soundlessly annex territories. This has already happened to an island territory just off of the mainland's coast called "Varjengrad," several foreign villages, and a whole city state was swallowed up in the last decade.

The culture is very reminiscent of 14-1700 European culture with a language comparable to Viennese German (the cockney British of the time/area).

GOVERNMENT:
The State is an ultra-authoritarian autocratic theocracy with a single, more or less monarchic leader. While governing is obviously delegated to various smaller rulers across the state the ruler, known as "the Tyrant" (ironically this has no negative connotation in the Reichspiel) always has the last word. He is generally picked by a secret meeting of Priests across the nations, and will usually be some sort of hero, though they are careful to make sure he isn't all brawn. That said, he is also largely a puppet for the secretive Religious order. Zvaghalf does have a nobility but nobles can rarely if ever wriggle out of military service, and have limited equity to the lower classes (meaning, that the government makes sure they too get a decent dose of oppression). Entering lower nobility is also very easy, one simply has to enlist for a military position with a very high mortality rate like a cuirassier or sapper and survive after six years of service.

INDUSTRY:
The Empire is arguably the most advanced nation of the world, and if not then almost surely the most advanced of the human ones. This, combined with a very large expanding area and a moderate but swiftly growing population (that has a “live to serve” mindset) means that even with 90% of the usual workforce at war the Empire still has a production capability to be reckoned with. Additionally, the Empire is rich in both minerals and fertility of soil, and while the society adamantly clings to traditional gender roles it is not scared of putting women into the workforce when men are working; in fact it more or less forces them to do so.

MAGIC:
Magic is forbidden on penalty of death in Zvageorg but there is heavy use of Clerical powers of all sorts, not to mention anointment the strengths given to the peoples by being anointed in the holy rivers of the land.

MILITARY:
Unlike most human nations, the state does not make use of arquebuses and gunpowder and pike and shot to quickly arm a deadly force, and instead delegates this matter to mechanical crossbows. The reasoning behind this is that crossbows are quick to train with and the Empire has many veterans willing to teach. As such, remaining stores of gunpowder allow it to amass a large armada, huge reserves of artillery and all sorts of interesting new weapons with the black stuff. Their military can largely be described as being extremely practical and efficient, having had it's art perfected by necessity over a very long time.

NAME: The Ogre Kingdoms

OVERVIEW: The Ogre Kingdoms is based off of the faction of the same name in canon, and naturally, it is inhabited by ogres, very large humanoid creatures whose culture primarily revolves around food, and the ways in which one can acquire more food in the future. As a result, they often fight for prime sources of good eats, meaning the "kingdoms" are more like maniple warring clans who happen to be able to cooperate with one another at times, though even then, many of their number strike out as mercenaries for other factions and adventurers in the wider world.

RACE AND CULTURE: Ogres are humanoid creatures of significant size - their infants tend to be the size of a full-grown dwarf shortly after birth, whilst they easily stand at twice an adult human's height in their own adulthood at minimum, with plenty of bulk to back that height up. Their most notable appearance trait, however, is the massive gut each ogre cultivates like they would a personal garden, typically by eating as much food as they can get and adorning it with a thick metallic gutplate; this gut is not composed largely of fat, but of many layers of powerful muscle that can crush even rocks from the outside in, allowing ogres to eat nearly anything if they feel like it, though sustenance is another matter. Indeed, they are also able to live nearly anywhere where there is sufficient food, and the greatest concentration of ogres in the modern age is the Mountains of Mourn, peaks that are half-volcanic and half-arctic, and filled with enough giant creatures to at least attempt to sate the ogre's hunger.
Their heavy focus on food and their guts is the result of a significant event in the past - as a result of events that are now lost to them, their former homelands were obliterated by what they believe to be an angry god, along with most of their race; the resulting crater is believed to be the god's mouth, giving it the name of the Great Maw, and it is this that has cursed the Ogres with an eternal hunger, unquenchable even when they are full to bursting. Thus, they were forced to travel from there to elsewhere in the world, reinforcing a prior nomadic tendency that persists to this day, though it has coalesced into more stratified levels of hierarchy within tribes.
Despite its origin as their nemesis, the Great Maw is also worshipped as the chief deity of the Ogres, and indeed the Great Maw's priests are also the Ogre race's chefs and butchers, gaining automatic status in ways that most Ogres can't otherwise hope to acquire in their lifetimes. It helps that ogres are mostly immune to the ravages of Chaos, though some still manage to succumb to its wiles for whatever reason. Other than this, the ogres have a small coterie of mostly minor deities, largely believed to be bastard children or offshoots of the Great Maw itself; the next most important of these is the Magma Maw, supposedly the offspring of the Great Maw with the sun, and the cultists who worship this deity as their wargod are considered mildly strange in their own right.
Outside of the Ogre Kingdoms themselves, ogres are considered to be savage brutes who will gladly murder you and eat your corpse... and in fairness, this is not typically wrong, seeing as how they semi-frequently eat each other after a match in the fighting pits, their primary source of entertainment. The ogres outside of the Kingdoms proper, however, tend to at least try forging themselves into somewhat more civilised forms, at least enough so that they can participate in the society they have encountered, be it the Warriors of Chaos or the nations of the high elves. Their more intelligent members can even teach themselves to read reasonably well, and in doing this to integrate and so dine with polite society. Hopefully on polite society, if they are challenged to a duel in the meantime.

GOVERNMENT: At the bottom of the scale in the Kingdoms are the ogre's mutated Greenskin slaves and servants, the knoblars, which are summarily mistreated beyond measure, and taste so bad that even ogres are loathe to consume them, save the ears and nose, which are considered a tasty delicacy. They are lorded over by all ogres, though depending on whether a high-ranking ogre remembers their name, or Maw forbid decides he likes them, they may gain some preferential status compared to their fellows. Above a regular ogre is an Irongut, an ogre strong enough to retain their own armour and weapons, who may then acquire some particular role such as the gun-toting Leadbelcher or beast-wrangling Tenderiser, as well as additional names describing their deeds the more prowess they show off.
The leadership proper of the Ogre Kingdoms is divided into the religious and political spectrums, as loose as those spectrums are amongst ogres, each a self-contained tribal hierarchy. Politically speaking, the most powerful ogres are the Bruisers, those with the size and strength to beat up any lesser ogre, and therefore doing what they like to their inferiors so long as they do not insult their social equals or superiors. Likewise, the Bruiser with the most strength is the clan's Tyrant, a mighty ruler in both strength and reputation, with the best gear, the most names, and the most children within his tribe. Yet regular challenges are made for these positions, Tyrants often falling to one of their Bruiser inferiors, in both lethal and non-lethal fights for the positions, though a Bruiser can also be promoted to the position by a well-pleased Tyrant.
By contrast, the priests of the Great Maw suffer no such in-fighting, for they are also the mages of the Ogre Kingdoms - young ogres with even a hint of magic or blessing are taken into the shamanhood, fed copious quantities of meat throughout their childhoods, as well as poison and other inedible substances even by ogre standards, and are never allowed to bear gutplates, for the resulting Butcher is considered a direct channel between ogrekind and the Great Maw itself, with the greatest size among all other ogres and the essence of the Great Maw itself in their bellies (or so they say). Though a Butcher is technically on par with a Bruiser in their respective fields, Tyrants will rarely if ever dare to offend one, for they would quickly lose the rest of their tribe out of fear of a comet dropping on their heads. The oldest and most powerful Butchers are deemed Slaughtermasters, taking the seat of honour next to the current Tyrant and sharing in only the choicest morsels of meat among the tribe.
Ogre tribes are constantly bickering and fighting with one another, in search of the highest locations to rule from and the best sources of meat throughout their homelands. Rare is the case that a singular ogre tribe will manage to subdue every other tribe in the mountains, but when they do, the result is typically a sort of ogrish Golden Age, where every tribe unites its efforts to produce the best meat for every ogre, and even some well-favoured knoblars, and the Kingdoms United in such a manner may even consider a rampage or two in the wider world to expand the territory they rule over under the right circumstances. The Tyrant and Slaughtermaster leaders of the foremost tribe in these cases will be crowned Overtyrant and Maw Charnellist respectively, holding the Great Maw's personal favour and reigning as such for as long as they can hold the loyalty of each other tribe; ultimately, however, the Golden Age will end (usually with the death of one or the other of these leaders), and the tribes will once again devolve into infighting, returning to their endless nomadism and squabbling as is usual. The current Golden Age has been spurred on by Chardtagh and Magnohn Gutwrencher, a pair of ogres who essentially had a lucky realisation and cheated their way to domination, and now seek to use this to advance their agenda.

INDUSTRY: Ogres have a strange, almost schizophrenic relationship with technology. On the one hand, their own in-roads into advancement are practically non-existent, and in particular nearly all of their herding, farming and hunting is done by hand, or at best with the weapons on their person, which is a good thing under the circumstances because all they farm are massive animals, either for slaughter or as warbeasts. On the other hand, they have no problem whatsoever with stealing and adapting the equipment and technology of other nations as their own, leading to quite the excess of battlefield loot in the form of armour, blades, and guns of various sorts. The latter in particular is well-loved for its ability to kill things from far away, so they can be approached and eaten relatively safely later on, leading to the development of way bigger guns for Leadbelchers to use on large targets, or large groups of targets.
Money, on the other hand, is very well-known amongst the ogres, both within and without the Mountains of Mourn. The range's tribes vary from dirt poor to exorbitantly rich, generally depending on how powerful the clan is, and whether or not one of them has thought to take a location of great value from the previous owners. A particular rule of thumb for whether or not one owns a location depends on whether the area's ruling tyrant can see it from where they sit upon their throne, making the peaks of tall mountains extremely sought after for their immense field of view. By contrast, even the dimmest ogre mercenaries and adventurers often make it a point to learn exactly what any given currency is worth in any given nation, as well as how much any given job they perform will pay them, though they may forget to do so until after the job has been paid for, only to return to their former employer with their minds set on eating the poor sod who decided to so blithely underpay them for their work.

MAGIC: Lore of the Great Maw - The prime magical style of the Butchers and Slaughtermasters, though certainly not the only one; its main focuses are ensuring the caster's fellow ogres can better destroy their enemies, ranging from increasing strength or toughness to outright regeneration of wounds on both themselves and their allies. Most significant among these is The Maw, a spell opening a chasm in the ground itself that can harm the Butcher's allies just as readily as their foes if miscast.
Lore of Death - Represents the all-consuming nature of the Great Maw; spell focuses largely involve targeting individual beings for destruction, though some support spells also exist. Widely praised is the spell called the Purple Sun of Xereus by other races, for few other powers represent so effectively the hunger of the Great Maw, even when it consumes the caster's own allies in combat.
Lore of Beasts - Represents the creatures the ogres live to consume, relying largely on boosting the power of the Butcher's allies and in particular the creatures they use as mounts, as well as a few significant attack spells. Most notable is the Transformation of Kadon, literally allowing the shaman in question to transform into whatever monster he desires, be it a chimaera or a full-blown dragon.
Lore of the Heavens - Represents the comet brought down upon the ogres so very long ago; this is a lore that is a sort of jack of all trades, though the comets that powerful Butchers can call down are certainly one of the biggest threats that any enemy can face.
Lore of Fire - Unique to the Firebellies that worship the Magma Maw's might, this lore's spells are considered to be its wrath made manifest, and focus on sheer firepower over all else. Though the Fulminating Flame Cage is a particularly nasty manifestation, trapping foes within what are believed to be the Magma Maw's own teeth, even a basic Fireball can be overcharged to destroy entire platoons or even armies, if the Firebelly can handle that much of the Magma Maw's power without themselves being consumed by it.

MILITARY: Ogres are typically quite limited in numbers when engaging foes other than themselves, and their military might often focuses on this aspect, utilising their significant bulk and that of the beasts they control to overwhelm their more numerous foes without being destroyed themselves.

NAME:
Skaven Under-Empire

OVERVIEW:
Deep beneath the nations of the world a mass of furred bodies writhe as a tumultuous sea. Dark hearts and darker minds plot meticulously. Final victory will be theirs, the children of the Great Horned Rat will one day blanket the surface, it is prophesied.

RACE AND CULTURE:
The cruel treacherous Rat Men of the Under-World, the Skaven seethe below the world of men building their tunnels and plotting. A Skaven's place in society is determined at birth by their fur. White or Light Grey Skaven are taken aside to become Grey Seers, Warlock Engineers, and the like. Black Skaven are taken aside to be warriors of their tribe. Brown Skaven are slaves from birth, with but little hope to improve their standing in their short lifespans. However they are born the Skaven that survive into adulthood plague the surface world.

Power must be taken. Whether by sheer force or cunning the old must die for the new to come to power. The victor will likely consume the vanquished. Power is kept through fear, watch as the new Overlord crouches over his dying predecessor, hear his labored final breaths then never forget what comes next. If your New Warlord could do that to the Old One what chance do you have against him. Set your rivals upon each other, cloud their minds, gather support by laying claim to your victories, kill any who question you. Any threat to your power must be met ruthlessly. Remember as you rise in power that you become a bigger target. Those you have left behind will envy you and your rivals for that next position are now that much stronger. Do what you must to survive. Lie, betray, murder, betray, show the others that you are to be feared. This is how we bring about the prophecy of the Great Horned Rat, this is the road to the Great Ascendancy.

GOVERNMENT:
The Council of 13, also known as the Lords of Decay, have long guided the Under-Empire on it's path to dominion. Composed of representatives from the 11 strongest Skaven clans, the greatest Grey Seer of the time, and the Great Horned Rat himself, they work together to avoid a third Civil War that might delay their ultimate conquest of the surface world.

INDUSTRY:
Skaven are both very advanced and very rudimentary in much of their technology. With little regard for the safety of their littermates and no willingness to take responsibility for any accidents, much of their weaponry tends to stop development once it is anywhere near functional. This hasn't stopped them from creating marvelous and horrifying weapons of war, some near as likely to kill their operators as their targets. While Skaven are capable of being competent builders they are more likely to simply take over or sink a human or dwarf city, then section it off haphazardly to house their voluminous brood.

MAGIC:
Skaven do not have access to any of the standard lores, instead they have two of their own.

Lore of Ruin - The province of the Grey Seers, the Lore of Ruin allows Skaven to harness the power of Warp energy itself. Including Howling Warpgale, Warpstorm, Death Frenzy, Scorch, Cracks Call, and potentially the Curse of the Horned Rat.

Lore of Plauge - The Lore of Plague is a foul magical technique. Specializing in matters of disease and decay this lore is repellent and thoroughly evil. Including Pestilent Breath, Bless with Filth, Weeping World Sores, Vermintide, Wither, Cloud of Corruption, and Plague

MILITARY:

The Under-Empire draws from each of it's clans, as the Great Horned Rat has decreed, to bring ruin to the realms of man and spread Skavendom across the surface world. From Clan Legere comes an ancient approach to war, From Clans Moulder and Riktus come the Stormvermin and Rat Ogre warriors, Disease and filth follow in the footsteps of the Plague Monks of Clan Pestilens, Sorcery and Science are joined with unholy ingenuity by the Warlock Engineers of Clan Skrye fielding various abominations and intricate mechanisms.
Core

Elite

Elite Artillery Teams


Rare



Heroes

Lords

Named Characters

NAME: Elven Paganlands

OVERVIEW:
West of the Elven Forests are the Paganlands, a stark contrast to the beautiful groves and meadows, instead filled with infested wealds and misty taiga's. The Paganlands were once the grand and majestic land of Lomillar before being corrupted by The Pagans, otherworldly malevolent forest spirits. The Wood Elves currently living in Lomillar were thus bound to their service, for promise of great power. Now, that the Paganlands have bolstered, a great crusade against the outside world is bound to occur.

RACE AND CULTURE:
The main races of the Paganlands are the Pagan Elves and Furbolgs, though outcasted and criminalized members of all races may walk amongst the various Circles.

The Paganlands worship Pagans, alien spirits of Chaos that have overwhelmed and devoured the Spirits of Lomillar, taking their places as the Forest's guardians. While the old spirits were kind and benevolent, the Pagans were harsh and selective, electing only their most devout worshippers power. Each Pagan varies in power, with a Circle, an entire tribe of Pagan Elves or Furbolgs, that worship and serve them.

Pagan Elves were once Wood and High Elves, until the Touch of the Pagans permanently scarred them, warping their mind and contaminating their soul. Nearly all Pagan Elves are insane by the standards of most mortals. While most of them are naturally born, hundreds are made each year as entire pilgrimages of outcasted Elves journey to the Paganlands. Pagan Elves need not be naturally born. So long as an Elf submits to the power of the Pagan, they will be born once the Paganistic power corrupts their soul and mind.

Furbolgs are bearlike Beastmen, once peaceful, until the day the Pagans came and devoured the forest spirits. Since then, the jovial Furbolgs have become grief-filled and angry, grinding away at their axes. Yet despite their hatred for The Pagans, they can do naught but heed their will, as they pledged their lives to the Forest Guardians, which, technically, the Pagans have become.

GOVERNMENT:
The Paganlands are divided into individual Circles, all bound by a treaty. The Head Shaman of each Circle has leadership of each circle, though as long as a member of the circle can overpower the current Head Shaman, it is declared that their Pagan was in their favor, and they are given new rulership. Should one Circle go to war with another, the first Pagans themselves battle in The Warp. Should a Shaman of either circle be killed, the Pagan they respect will suffer a backlash, as they devote much of their power into their followers. Yet if one Pagan defeats another, the power of their Shamans will weaken significantly. Usually when a circle is defeated, all members are slaughtered without mercy. If absolutely no followers of a Pagan are alive, they will fade into nothingness.

The sovereign body of the Paganlands goes to the Circle of the strongest of the Pagans, known as the Apex. The current Apex is Ysolnir, the devourer, a massive beast that continuously feasts on bloodshed and sacrifice. His Shaman, Irrich, has been pressured by him to carry out a crusade to continue his blissful feasting.

INDUSTRY:
In the days of Lomillar, nonindustrialization was acceptable, as the forest spirits generously contributed to the well-groomed forests. Yet with the dark and nearly impartial Pagans, the entirety of the Paganlands is in a severe depression. Most structures more formidable than a ramshackle hut are abandoned fortresses. Farming is practically impossible, as the Pagans constantly devour life from the earth. Most food sources are from hunting the aggressive wildlife, or picking small berries. Some Furbolg tribes also practice cannibalism of defeated duelists for delicacies.

The only real way to attain resources beyond the scarcity of the Paganlands, Pagans occasionally provide resources in return for sacrifices, be it of their own followers or prisoners of war.

MAGIC:
Lore of Shadow
Lore of Death
Lore of Beasts(Furbolgs only)
Daemonology -- Pagans

MILITARY:
The Pagan army's lower and more plentiful ranks are more adaptive in surviving landscapes, making it easier for them to hold down positions in natural environments over fortifying cities and fortresses. Many of the Core soldiers are weaker than most other armies, and less plentiful. The reason for such is that Pagan Daemonology requires sacrifice, be it of their men or others, to make contracts with Pagans that grant them the ability to manifest in the physical world.

Without Pagans, however, Pagan armies are still plenty capable. Their mortal soldiers often break conventions of others of their type, such as Dark Rangers, with more melee power for less infantry, or the Werebear Barbarian, which gives up its clarity and thought for raw power. A weakness of the Pagan army is it's reluctance to retreat and be controlled, as several soldiers live for the chaos of battle, making what would be small defeats for other armies into catastrophic failure on the Pagan armies.

Core:
-Dark Ranger
Plentiful ranged units, which give up some of the power other armies' ranged units possess, in exchange for melee strength and stealth.
-Crazy
In their normal state, Crazy's are weaker than the average soldier, due to their poor armaments. Yet they can enter a battle fury, surrendering mental control for speed and strength.
-Mara Cavalry
In the Paganlands, Mara's were once proud and majestic horses, until the Pagans warped them into bloodthirsty predators that eat flesh. They are difficult to control, and hard to mobilize after the intial charge as the Mara gorges on fresh corpses, while the rider attempts to stab enemies with a spear.
-Mara Archer
Riders of Mara's trained not to devour flesh. They shoot arrows at a distance. However, once the rider dies, the Mara gives in to it's instinct, charging across the field to consume flesh.
-Black Hound
Wolves that have been warped by the Pagans dark power. Each Black Hound provides a morale bonus to all Black Hounds near it. If a large enough pack forms, then they'll create a fast-moving swarm.
-Heretic
The Heretic specializes in demoralizing the foe through shouting obsceneties towards the gods. They are exceptionally vulnerable, as many devout soldiers are more than willing to slit their tongues.

Elite:
-Cultist of War
The first Caster of the Pagan Armies. The victims of this soldier are sent directly to his master, earning him more favor as a battle continues. However, they start off weak early on, meaning they either end up trampled as the first blood, or a god on the battlefield.
-Child of Black Soil
Those who are buried in the Paganlands blighted soil do not stay dead. They return from the other side, having visited the Pagans, acting in thrall to send them a feast. They are slow and extremely durable, and should they die, they will spawn a Shambler, a root of Paganic flesh that grapples any who come near.
-Blight
A Treant, once proud and mighty, stripped of it's soul, rudely replaced by a Pagan. Mushrooms and dead bark cover them, making them slow but durable. The more damage they take, the faster yet softer they become as iron and fire tears towards their exposed bark.
-Furbolg Barbarian
A holy warrior sent from the Furbolg Tribes. They can tap into their inner rage, charging into the enemy column with no control.
-Furbolg Shaman
A Druid of the Furbolg who reveres the Pagans. Whether exiled or willingly left their tribes to fight for a Pagan, they are able to induce other soldiers into mindless battle rage, as well as summoning their corrupted ancestors.

Rare:
-Champion of the Pagans
A knight who swears loyalty to the Pagans. He can cast an assortment of abilities, and possesses high defense and power. He has abysmal speed, however.
-Pagan Brute
A lesser Pagan summoned to the battlefield in the form of a bearlike monstrosity. After slaughtering a fixed number of units, he will return to the Warp.
-Elder Blight
One of the Treant Kings, possessed by a Pagan. Like the lesser Blight, it has high defense, yet also has spikes protruding from it's skin, damaging any who harm it.
-Black Golem
A golem summoned from the black soil of the Paganlands, If killed, it has a chance of dropping anywhere between 1 and 3 Children of Black Soil.
-Black Hound Alpha
A Black Hound that has asserted itself as an alpha. In battle, it provides an even greater ferocity to other Black Hounds. Yet should it come across another Black Hound Alpha, the two and their packs will instantly fight each other.

Lords:
-Pagan Knight
A Pagan summoned to the physical world in the form of a menacing knight atop a Giant Mare. While it has devastating attack and defense, should it not be in the front lines for too long it will attempt to devour soldiers of it's own side.
-Psychopath
A Crazy who has survived far too many battles to be considered mortal. When it enters it's battle frenzy, all nearby Crazy's also enter, creating a massive, unstoppable horde.
-Shadow Assassin
An assassin born in shadows. They are capable of turning into mist and reappearing in an area where convenient. While they are powerful and quick, they are incapable of surviving one on one combat.
-Paganmaster
A Shaman who has tricked two lesser Pagans to his will, turning them into two Pagan Brutes. However he dies, the Pagans will take revenge upon their own armies. When no "friendly" soldiers are within short range of them, they will return to the warp.
-Furbolg Warlord
One of the Furbolgs chieftans, wielding two spears. Capable of activating a "Last Stand" stance, where they do not move, but gain a significant damage and defense boost. When they enter Last Stand, they die regardless in 30 seconds.

Heroes:
-Master Shaman
The leader of a Shamanic Circle, who takes to the battlefield for the Pagans. They can cast practically any spell within the Pagan Daemonology school.
-Speaker of the New Gods
A man who permits his voice to be used by the Pagans. While he has abysmal combat stats, he occasionally casts a Pagan Spell. He has absolutely no control over this ability, and many spells harm as much as they help.
-Pagan Avatar
A follower of a Greater Pagan who allows his body to be a vessel to his master. They take the form of a tall, lean monstrosity, wielding a massive sword capable of slicing a hole through enemy ranks.

Named Characters:
-Irrich the Clare: General of the Pagan armies, who possesses an unnatural clarity amongst Pagan Elves. While several of his equals talk behind his back, he is respected as the best military genius to carry out the inevitable conquest.
-Tanglebane: Once king of the Treants, Tanglebane is a pessimistic Blight, who passes by his boredom through killing those who enter his domain.
-Eireth of Sprawl: Queen of Sprawl, an overgrown city that is continuously being reclaimed by nature, despite the best efforts of the Pagan Elves to survive. Yet despite her city's state, she has claimed dominance over a single Blight, which begrudgingly carries her upon its head.
-Duth Rageheart: The prophet of the Furbolgs, believing that "rage shall set us free".
-Samia The Shifter: The master assassin of the Paganlands. Myths state that she can quite literally turn into shadow.

NAME:

The Kingdom of Andemarc

OVERVIEW:

The Kingdom of Andemarc is a feudal monarchy composed of several former independent kingdoms and nations that have been conquered by military means or by marriage. The kingdom is divided into duchies, counties, shires and protectorates, and is ruled currently by King Arthur the First, also known as the Hammerer.

RACE AND CULTURE:

Andemarc is mostly populated with humans, and elves and dwarves are small minorities. Culture is agrarian, meaning most of the people in Andemarc work in farms and agriculture. The population shares the common tongue of Andemaric, but there are local dialects and some remnants of old languages present locally.

The population is divided into four distinct classes: the peasants, the aristrocracy, the clergy and bourgeousie. The peasants are the most numerous, and the aristrocracy the smallest class. Peasants are free men and women, since slavery and serfdom has been abolished, and they work on either on their own farms or as tenant farmers to a landowner. The aristrocracy owns most of the land, and they often have banners, sigils and mottos to promote their status. Their position is hereditary, and once a man has become a noble, his noble rights and privilages can only be revoked by the king or by trial in the case of serious crimes.

Lords, counts, margraves, dukes and knights to the aristrocracy, and they denoted from the rest of the population by major landownership. Peasants often own a farm and enough land to support a family, but the aristrocracy often claims overlordship over these lands. The nobles provide knights and levies to their liege lords as part of a feudal contract. The king can call the banners in the time of war to defend the realm as a whole. Margraves are often given border castles and marches to protect the vital roadways and other strategic regions from hostile forces.

The clergy, shortly put, pray to gods, preach, hold official records and teach the population. The majority of the population believe in the four gods (Leofri, Maar, Fredda, Dagon), who represent the four elements (air, fire, earth, water) of the world. The religion was founded by Saint Catriona, the wife of King Hakon the Red, the third king of Andemarc centuries ago. The religion spread throughout the kingdom, and now is the most adhered religion in the kingdom.

REGIONS & IMPORTANT LOCATIONS

The Duchy of Mormount
Under the rule direct rule of the king.
The capital city Tremerlay is located here
Population: 50 000 humans, elves and dwarves
The Duchy of Roussillon
Under the rule of Duke Edward Narville of Kirkwall
A region known for making wines, the bread basket of the kingdom
Kirkwall is a major town with 25 000 inhabitants built around the River Kirk
The town has been besieged many times by the realm's inner and external enemies, but it has never fallen.
The Duchy of Narmy
Under the rule of Duke John Carmichael of Cole's Keep
Cole's Keep is the major castle of the duchy, and it is sais that it was founded by the elves in the times past.
The Highland Baronies
A collection of multiple independent-minded baronies and castles
The Princibality of Crey
The home of the infamous knight Mordred le Crey, the Black Knight of legend, the Kingslayer, who killed Hakon the Red's father.
Nowadays the princibality is held by the heir apparent of the kingdom to teach them skills of government.
Major castle is Ornstein Keep by the Orn River
The Protectorate of the Valminy Valley
The Valminy Valley holds many small communities, that have sought protection from many a threat.
County of Fairfax
County of Harkland
The Free City of Gulftown
The Grey Hills
The Kingswood

GOVERNMENT:

The king is the head of state, and below him is the feudal aristrocracy, represented in the Royal Council. The Royal Council is the upper house of the reprsentive system, and it advises the king in the stately matters, and can decide on taxation. The king needs the approval of the Royal Council to raise new taxes to fund his projects. The Common Council is the lower house, and the as the name suggests, represents the common people, and towns, shires and guilds can send representives to the Common Council. The Speaker acts as the leader of the Councils of the Realm, and presents new law proposals and such things to the king.

INDUSTRY:

The economic situation of the realm is based heavily on agriculture. The peasant work on the land, and produce all kinds of products to the market, ranging from simple wheat and other foodstuffs to tar and other raw materials. The craftsmen, like the blacksmiths and weavers, make all kinds of goods mostly to domestic use, but Andemari wool is a wanted resource in neighbouring kingdoms and nations for its quality. The kingdom produces the best wool and tar in the known world, or at least the Andemari producers are proud of them.

MAGIC:

In Andemar, magic is seen as a gift from the four gods, and although Andemari wizards, druids and spellsingers are scarce, they mostly rely on the Lore of Life to affect the battlefield.

MILITARY:

As the kingdom is still feudal in nature, the armies of Andemarc are comprised of feudal levies and retinues. The retinues are bands of soldiers led by a captain, who makes a contract to a noble for loot in exchange for their services. Basically, they are mercenaries. The size of a retinue can vary from a few people to few hundred.

The armies are often composed of well-armed infantry and longbowmen, with support from light cannons, bombards and howitzers. The cavalry is often a side-note in a Aedmari army, mostly used for scouting and skirmishes. Heavy cavalry is rare and often are used to protect nobles. The most common infantry unit is a company (100-250s soldiers), and the most common cavalry unit is a squadron (30-50 soldiers). Artillery is often deployed in batteries (3-6 guns).

Gunpowder in Adermarc is often in low supply thanks to the constant wars, but local alchemists have maintained a sound level of quality over the years and decades.

Nobles are required by law to field, maintain and arm a certain amount of their levies at arms at all times. There is a system of allotment in place, where villages and towns provide an amount of soldiers to the king every year for a term of service. They gain a lesser tax burden, but have to provide the soldiers training and equipment in return.

The marches, ruled by margraves, act as the first line of defence agaisnt external foes. The castles are at a central place in a march, and they adjacent countryside mostly supports the castle as a strategic stronghold. They dot the borders of the kingdom.

COMMON UNITS

Longbowman
A peasant man hired from a shire or county, the longbowman is a professional hunter and has no qualms of killing nobles or knights if it means survival. They are often armed with a longbowmen, armoured in light armour (leather or chainmail), and forage what they can from the countryside and battlefields. Often situated in high ground or wooded ground to counter the effieciency of cavalry charges and to hide from sight.

Halberdier
Halberdiers are a common sight as melee soldiers in Andemar. They are lightly armoured, but are armed with a long halberd to face the charge of the cavalry. They often protect the longbowmen from cavalry charges, and as infantry, if they can take a position and dig in, can be hard to dislodge. Often recruited from the peasant population. Their level of training and displine can vary greatly.

Highlander axeman
Axemen from the Highlands have long and curious traditions. They fight in kilts and paint their faces blue with woad. Often clad in leather and chainmail armour, the axemen fight on foot. They wield greataxes

Mounted archer
Simply an archer on horseback. They often scout and skirmish with the enemy before retreating to friendly lines, relying on speed and mobility than muscle to achieve their mission. They can also act as messengers between units and commanders.

Sergeants
Sergeants are common household soldiers of a noble, acting as more heavily armed and armoured foot soldiers. Their equipment vary from soldier to soldier, but often they are armed with heavier weapons and partial plate armour

Sappers
Sappers are the engineers of the army, and they know how to work wood and other materials, build siege engines and operate them.

Howitzer
A simple cannon firing projectiles in a parabolic arc. Heavy to operate, but often drawn by horses when marching. In battle they often operate behind the friendly lines, offering fire support for infantry. They can fire crudely shaped rocks or metal balls.

Bombard
A heavy siege cannon, rarely used outside of a siege due to weight.

Minion
A light cannon, often used agaisnt infantry.

ELITE UNITS

Lancer
With the invention of gunpowder and firearms, the knightly class has dwindled and the main focus of the army has shifted towards infantry. Knights still have a part to play as bodyguards and as the leaders of a shire. They often act as lancers, armed with a long lance and a sword to engage the enemy, concebtrating on chasing retreating enemies or ambush marching columns.

Cavalier
Cavaliers are cavalry armed with pistols and muskets called carbines. The carbine is a shorter version of your average musket. Muskets are hard to come by in Ardemac, and thus there are only a few cavaliers armed with it. They are more likely armed just with the pistols and are clad in a light plate armour.

RARE UNITS

Royal Guard / The Knights of the Griffin
The Royal Guard use a griffin banner and serve to protect the king as his personal bodyguard and companions. The Order of the Griffin is both a honorary and military order, where only the best knights of the realm can be taken in. Their numbers are thus very small (in the few dozens), but they are fiercely loyal and deadly against human opponents.

Spellsinger
Spellsinger are the most common magic-users in Andemarc, often reciting old songs and spells, which act as the way to affect the world with magical energies. They often act as healers and medics.

HEROES & LORDS

King Arthur I the Hammerer
King Arthur wields the legendary sword named Dawn that has passed from king to king for generations. It is said to be a bastard sword that Mordred le Crey used to combat King Hakon the Red. He has spent many years in different fronts and battlefields, and has earned a reputation as a masterful defender.

Prince Morgan
The heir apparent to the throne of Andemarc.

Duke Edward II Narville
A distant cousin to the king, Duke Edward's forebears were granted the Duchy of Roussillon as a gift from the king. Duke Edward is an elderly man, nearing his fifties. He has been one of the most renowned commanders of the kingdom, inspiring loyalty in those who have served with and under him.

Duke John I Carmichael
Duke John rules the Duchy of Narmy, and is one of the best political advicers in the country. He often has acted as an ambassador to the outside world.

Sir Roland Marsten
The captain and commander of the Royal Guard. Sir Roland is a knight of fame and renown, but his character is humble and introverted compared to the tales of his deeds on the battlefield.