Ah! I know just the nation I want to play.
I will play as the orcs. The nation of Fellmore, situated in the very north of the continent, is a barren land, an icy desert filled with dust, stone, and little else. The only reason it's settled is because long ago, there were discovered vast deposits of metals such as iron, copper, and tin. The orcs used to be a highly civilized race, creatures of philosophy and intellect in a world when most other races were just learning how to walk. But disaster after disaster dried out most of the water in the land, drying it out to its present lifeless state. The orcs devolved into stone-age nomadic tribes, hunting one another for food and bickering endlessly over resources and territory. The infighting briefly ended when a Warlock forced all the tribes together under his iron thumb and sent them into the fertile south. A great and terrible war left the other races reeling. The orcs were eventually driven back, but they got what they wanted: enough food, resources, and slave labor to build a nation.
Unfortunately, their nation lasted only as long as the Warlock, and once a band of "heroic" adventurers slew him, Fellmore descended once again into anarchy, until one day, the elves accidentally sent them a gift.
That gift was Erudessa Durvain.
This may require some explanation. You see, despite their apparent grace and sophistication, elves still respect power over all else. An elf male may be the oldest and wisest of his generation; an elf woman may be the smartest creature alive; but if their magic powers cannot overcome that of their peers, they will never hold any positions of authority. Erudessa Durvain was the mightiest elf in history. Legends say the Immortals themselves sculpted her to perfection, and her parental origins are shrouded in mystery. Elves all over the world bowed down to her and respected her incredible power. Few remembered that she was once a humble healer, whose great prowess in battle came not from self-improvement, but from the acquisition of ancient artifacts that artificially imparted to her their knowledge and power.
That power eventually went to her head. She came to believe that there was no one alive who could challenge her, no living soul who could threaten her. She hadn't counted on the existence of a man whose unique brand of magic was her ultimate weakness - the Magic Stealer. For centuries he stood by her side, never revealing his secret power while serving as her closest confidant and dearest friend. Erudessa launched a campaign against the orcs to put an end to their endless invasions and cannibalistic brutality. In her most vulnerable moment, as she stood upon a precipice overlooking the orc army preparing a deadly spell to wipe them out in a single strike, her friend robbed her of her magic and thrust her off the edge.
The powerless queen descended into the center of the orc army. Surprised and delighted that their greatest enemy was delivered into their hands, the orcs dragged her back to their fortress and nearly killed her, were it not for the timely intervention of an orc warchief named Gorman. Behind all her pride and former bluster, she was still a healer at heart. Gorman saw in her the salvation of his people, and with a clever gamble, bargained for her life and won. He subsequently took her into his care and began to train her in the ways of the orcs.
The training was brutal. Having spent most of her life training her mind and magic, Erudessa was woefully unprepared for the physical demands orcish life imposed upon her. Worse, she couldn't get over the loss of her former glory, and wallowed in self-pity while wondering why none of the orcs could take her seriously. Gorman determined to change that. After years of challenging her and testing her moral compass, he finally succeeded - at the cost of his own life.
The only way an orc can rise through the ranks is to kill those currently occupying those ranks. When the orcs started a campaign of revenge against the elves, Erudessa's own kind, at first she lacked the backbone to try and stop them. But as the casualties piled up, her resolve grew, until she could bear it no longer and finally challenged Gorman to a duel.
She won.
With his dying breath, Gorman revealed to her that he'd always intended for her to take his place, and that by stopping him, she had finally proven her worthiness. From that point onward, the orcs of Gorman's warband respected her. With a new army of loyal warriors at her back, Erudessa returned to Fellmore to embark on a new quest: to unite the warring tribes and bring peace to the region.
Story Quest: Unite the Warring Tribes of Fellmore
From a mechanical standpoint in the RP, the nation of Fellmore will be mostly isolationist, focusing primarily on internal politics and uniting the disparate orc tribes under one banner. As Erudessa's influence grows, she may offer or accept treaties with neighboring countries, but only if/when the border is sufficiently secure.
