Realm Name:
Apossimos, the province of

Realm Master:
Kephale Josiario Presach

Master's Biography:
Josario Presach was born into the powerful Presach family in the province of Apossimos, a relatively powerful province in the late Thalasian Empire. For generations the Presach family has derived wealth and power from the wide range of property and prestige it has managed to acquire and hold within the Thalasian imperial structure in the passed two-hundred years. Holding what the family often lauds as “uncountable acreages” or privately held farm-land and an army of serfs, it is really the second stronger family in the province.

Never the less, Josario was born into a life of extreme wealth as the third of ten siblings, his eldest brother passed away from illness at the age of thirteen and his next oldest sibling was his sister Calavinia, so the honor of the next in line to inheriting the family estate passed to him.

According to imperial rights he – along with all of the imperial aristocracy – was pressed into military service to the Empire, and he with the rest of the young nobility and aristocracy of the realm joined the coveted and stratified imperial cavalry. His military career was marked with considerable danger and bravery as he was sent to the southern frontier to swat back at the barbarian cavalry that for the passed eighty years has been raiding and biting at the heels of the Empire by raiding its slavery and ivory caravans from the far-south.

In one recorded and praised circumstance Josario and his unit was ambushed in the red cliffed deserts by a band of dark-skinned mercenaries. The enemy riders, number over three times the imperial force's size assailed the imperial ranks from their head and their flank. When the dust settled it was only Josario who survived holding his hand to his chest, an enemy sword had struck half his left hand from his body and he rode to his unit's destination with a bandage around his wounded hand and a bouquet of barbarian heads held in the other.

On part of his injury and to reward Josario's abilities he was moved to a purely administrative post at the distant outpost he was headed to on the insistence of its fort commander. At the age of only twenty-six he became that officer's sub leftenant, charged with managing the fort's staff and duties of the soldiery on behalf of his commanding officer.

When he turned thirty he heard word from home that his father Barachius Presarch had fallen ill. Having served his time in service to the imperial crown he was given leave and he arrived home in time to see his ailing father on his death bed. A day later he passed and Josario took the reigns of administrating his family holdings.

At the age of thirty-one he married his wife Carolina, who was nineteen at the time. They had three sons: Hakial, Petroclius, and Jussiah.

At forty-nine the old Kephale of the province died, and being a head of a recognized major family in the province was invited to the Conclave of Ministers for the province and elected as the new magistrate for the province.

Realm History:
The province of Apossimos is one of the oldest provinces of the Thalasan Empire, but not belonging to the original Thalasan kingdom is not subject to the imperial law that only Thalasans shall live in the core lands of the Empire. Apossimos also has the distinction has having the richest farm-land in the central Empire and its long rocky coast is broken by numerous shallow rivers flowing from the interior mountains that mark the provinces southern border; which has been a bounty for the provinces early history as it shielded the empire from the warlike barbarians to the far south. It is however notable that for all this the Thalasan people have had a long historical stigma with the region, even if they continually show their loyalty and appreciation for the Empire. The issue is a combination of history and Imperial law.

During the formative stages of the early empire over a millennium ago the province of Apossimos was the center for the rival kingdom of Apossima. The relationship between the kingdom then and the kingdom of the Thalasans was so tense that it was said that when the Thalasans conquered the territory the court magi of the ruling king cast a curse that a great plague will sweep Thalasa should even one of the king's subjects manage to cross the Rumer River forming the border between the Empire. As response the Thalasans conducted a wide-spread campaign of terror and butchery that swept the kingdom killing every man, woman, and child they could find in the conquered province. The ancient Apossima people who had lived there for so long were either killed in such volume the rivers ran red with blood for years as the soil bled the blood it had taken in and the people of the defeated kingdom fled in droves west-ward into mysterious distant lands. Making the situation tougher, the kingdom passed laws forbidding Apossimans from crossing the river Rumer which was expanded in subsequent years to include all non-Thalasans in a strict policy of internal segregation.

Thus barred from the wealth of the Purple Lands of the Thalasan kingdom future imperial subjects seeking bountiful bottom land and rich timbered forests slowly migrated to Apossimos to establish new lives. This process of gradual resettlement rejuvenated the emptied territory which had been slowly settled by ethnic Thalasans. This made for a rowdy, almost frontier culture in the interior of the Empire that reconstructed the Apossiman culture anew.

At a time corresponding with the Thalasan invasion of the northern lands across the sea a curious cult made its appearance in Apossimos. Proclaiming a One God enveloped in the Cloak of Truth, the cult masters who proclaimed their faith made the claim that their god was the father of all life and denounced the superiority of the Sun and Moon cults of the Thalasan people.

Originally disparaged as displaced Born from the north, the curious cult and its native followers migrated throughout the Empire until settling in the internally frontier Apossimos. But their reality is that they were not northerners, but far westerners who themselves were seeking accommodation from and safety from their own homeland where they had been lead out by a Walking King who lead them out of a land ravaged by drought, plague, and invasion far to the west and south.

With many of the imperial provinces at the time housing populations far more established and the Purple Lands off limits to all foreigners the displaced peoples arrived by sea to Apossimos, hop-scotching the heartland to seek settlement.

Hesitantly recognizing the new people, the imperial magistrate of the province at the time – the Kephale – permitted the refugees to settle in his province and offered them land in the mountain interior to live. The Walking King was permitted to keep his honorary title, but had to pledge subservience to the administrative office.

The Walking King as a title was purely honorary, and the real rank was Hakohen Ghadhoul, or the High Priest. The High Priest who had lead his people is often simply referred to as Haron.

For the next several centuries the monotheistic cult and its people lived peacefully in the interior. Further refugees who had heard of the resettlement made their way eastward to Apossimos and integrated themselves within the stripped provincial community. Despite their new homes in the rocky mountain foothills the population thrived, having one advantage most the rest of the population of the province lacked: literacy. As a core tenant of their faith the practitioners had to learn to read to write and they offered this to anyone fore free; and many who came to them to learn the skills and advantages of even basic literacy came to convert in the end, having had the cloak of wisdom wrapped around them and filled with its warmth.

The name given to these people has changed over the centuries, called neutrally as the Shepards, Sephards, or the Apollimites they were else derogatorily derided as the Ghouls or the Wordy Men. But despite the jealousy and hate levee'd against them their population soon grew to prominence and some four-hundred years after the Thalasan failures in the Born lands had infiltrated and assumed office in provincial office.

The Shepards, becoming a full-blown aristocratic class came to enjoy the privileges of and becoming party to the duties and rights of the title. The families who got into political power began using their power and influence to acquire land and ships which they used for trade and commercial activity. The province soon came to a golden age unseen since the exterminate of its original inhabitants.

Realm Seat:
Pollus Apossimos

Realm Boundaries/Location:
Master Googer, I require an outside map if I'm going to fill this role!

Realm Name: Tostlaw
Realm Master: Guthrum "The Warlord of Thorpe" Tostlaw
Master's Biography:
Guthrum Tostlaw, sixth of his name, is one of the few Born on Magnar who can proudly trace his direct male descent to the Greatfather. Unfortunately, this fact only adds to the bloated ego of the Warlord of Thorpe, who will proudly remind of you of the fact whenever possible. Born into the hardy Tostlaw family in the impoverished (and aptly named...) Realm of Tostlaw, Guthrum was made Master of Tostlaw at the age of 16 and soon attracted a poor reputation in noble courts across the land. His conceited personality, short temper and the Realms famous neutrality earned him the ironic nickname of "The Warlord of Thorpe", one which he despises with a passion. Despite his poor reputation among Magnar nobility, Guthrum remains wildly popular with Tostlaw peasantry, frequently distributing wealth, sponsoring farmers and even mingling with them.

When criticised by a relative from a foreign court for his unorthodox habits concerning peasantry, Guthrum famously replied "Finish yer soup, get on yer high horse and get t'fuck out of me realm". This populist, "man of the people" image has allowed Guthrum to lead a lavish lifestyle despite extreme hardship falling onto his realm in recent years. Famines, harsh winters and raids from the northern frontier have made Tostlaw, once famed for its strong wood used in the production of galleys, tools and weaponry, one of the poorest realms of Magnar. Poor harvests are effecting not only peasantry but also craftsmen, artisans and nobles in Tostlaw. It's beginning to seem as though even Guthrums popularity will begin to fail as the winters grow longer and the peasants find life harder. Although the Tostlaws have ruled their realm peacefully for generations, murmurs of discontent have begun to surface and if nothing is done about the situation soon, change will be imminent.

Guthrum has tentatively supported abandoning Magnar but faces opposition from groups across society.

Realm History:
According to legend, Tostlaw, the fourth son of the Greatfather, was the proudest of the six sons and was banished to live "among the humble and great Oaks". Its said that Tostlaw left his father without so much as a goodbye. When he reached the Great Oaks of the Northeast, Tostlaw found that an ancient war between the Forest and the Ocean had reached a stalemate. He struck up a bargain with the Great Oaks, forest beings who led the fight against the Oceans. In exchange for the secrets to their power, he would join their fight against the Ocean and gain back the land lost to it. The Fourth Son's entry into the war tipped the scales and the Ocean was defeated in 5 days and 6 nights. The Ocean, beaten into submission, never again encroached on the land of the Great Oaks and Tostlaw founded the seat of his newfound power, Thorpe, on the coast to keep watch over the Ocean. As long as a Tostlaw sat in Thorpe, the Ocean would never again attack the Forests.

The Great Oaks generously rewarded Tostlaw with power, wives and they slowed his rate of aging significantly. Tostlaw's family grew quickly and its said traces of his power was passed down to his sons and daughters, who colonised his realm. News of the Forests victory over the Ocean spread slowly across Magnar, eventually reaching the ears of the Greatfather and his brothers.

The Greatfather only visited Thorpe once, many years later, wishing to congratulate his son on his victory over the Ocean but was met with stiff replies from Tostlaw, who had grown arrogant and unhinged with his acquired powers. The Greatfather and his fourth son argued for a generation and without warning, the Greatfather stripped Tostlaw of his forest power, rendering him weak and aged. He scorned the Great Oaks for granting such power to a mortal and the Forest, which had grown wary of their former ally and his children, agreed to never again appear to Tostlaw and petrified themselves. To this day, the Great Oaks of Tostlaw stay silent and their power is remains hidden.

After losing the ancient power of the Forests, Tostlaw saw his health rapidly fail and he aged into dust over the course of week. His eldest son, Svennrik, blamed the now-silent Great Oaks and the Forest for the death of his beloved father and went into a murderous rage, felling the great forests across the Realm and using their wooden corpses as boats to traverse the Ocean in search of the Greatfather, hoping he could bring his father back. The Eldest Son was last seen battling the Ocean, screaming his grandfathers name. Its said that Svennrik's howls for the Greatfather were mocked by the Ocean, who mimics his howls to scare small children on stormy nights.

Since the early days of Tostlaw, war has been uncommon and only occurs when absolutely necessary. While not pacifists, the Realm is more concerned with producing and selling its famed Great Oak wood. Border disputes haven't occurred in living memory and the army is relatively small, mostly concentrated in garrisons scattered in larger towns and hamlets. The people of Tostlaw, nicknamed Tosties, are hardy and superstitious. They are mostly unconcerned with the politics of Magnar and the Master of Tostlaw has traditionally stayed neutral in disputes. War hasn't ravaged the realm in hundreds of years but as natural disasters have increased in the last century, the region has become impoverished and Tosties have developed a reputation as being inbred and poor.

Exodus from Tostlaw has been opposed by sections of society, who argue abandoning the land of their forefathers is heresy and the Ocean will swallow the ancient forests if Guthrum leaves. The winters have been crippling, however and a majority are beginning to believe leaving Tostlaw is the better option.
Realm Seat: Thorpe
Realm Boundaries/Location: The little north east region or if that's been claimed, the north west region. It doesn't really matter as long as it's a northern, coastal region.