Super interested and reserving a spot -- just need to finish reading through everything and then I'll have my nation up.
EDIT: Got all the stats down, I believe. If someone could tell me whether I've cocked it up somehow that'd be great. Will return to add the flavor text tomorrow.
EDIT2: History added. Just characters to go now.
Nation Name: Alexavia
Races of the Nation:
Raptoria
Aviani
Hill Giants
Black Orcs
Pale Orcs
Nation History:
The Aerions of the Alexite Mountains have long looked down on the rest of the world from their lofty nests. An ancient civilization, their Raptoria and Aviani factions settled their differences long ago and have lived in harmony ever since. For many years they were isolationist, hiding in their mountain capital of Extilium, their king living in the impenetrable citadel of Taelinis. However, in recent decades events have conspired to knock the Aerions down from their supercilious perches.
Subterranean forces from deep within the mountains had clashed periodically with the Aerions for as long as anyone could remember. But everything changed when the Cho-Ja attacked. From unknown depths the hive swarmed into the surface, raiding Aerion settlements, massacring children, devouring eggs. After a bloody war the Aerions beat back their insect foes, and the Cho-Ja retreated back into the tunnels. Nevertheless, the Aerions knew that it would not be long before the hive recovered from its injuries. But there was nothing they could do. Aviani love the open sky, and Raptoria are at home among the peaks and crags. If they ever tried to pursue their fleeing enemies into the mountain, they would be slaughtered.
A party of Aerion nobility, including the old king Anciel Highflight and the hero of the Cho-Ja war, Helexa Talonsoul, descended into the foothills. There they met with dozens of Black Orc and High Orc chieftains. The Orcs and the Aerions had long been friendly, peaceful trade partners, but now Highflight offered them more. Their peoples would unite into a single nation. In exchange for Orcish troops storming through the depths of the Alexite Mountains to eradicate the Aerions’ enemies, the Orcs would earn glory, the riches of the deep, and a place beside the Aerions in the mountain cities. The tribes eagerly agreed.
The Aerion culture of order and dignity matched well with the Orcish values of strength and glory. After a period of rapid training, Orc legions marched into the tunnels and crushed the wounded Cho-Ja hive. The victory celebrations were immense, and this alone was enough to convince even the most skeptical of Aerions; for how could you continue to look down on a people as worthless savages even after they do you the favor of crushing the monsters that devoured your unborn children?
The fight did not end with the Cho-Ja, however. King Anciel Highflight declared a righteous war to rid the mountain of all the lowly, monstrous, abominable, and ignoble beings that dwelled beneath it. And so the combined races of Alexavia dove repeatedly into the underground, exterminating the last survivors of the Cho-Ja and their fellow Insectoids, hunting down Trolls and Ogres, wiping out stray goblin tribes, and pillaging the ancient city of the Alexite Duergar. Many monsters, too, were driven as near to extinction as the Alexavians could manage. Umber Hulks, Ankhegs, Bahannoth, and Cildabrin, once very real threats to any who strayed too deep, are now nearly eradicated. Only a few beasts were allowed to thrive, once domesticated; Gryphons and Hippogriffs (long domesticated by the Aerions), the Great Wyrm, Drakes and Hydras are now a valued part of the Alexavian military.
In the wake of the Mountain Wars, King Anciel made two announcements. First, he declared the dawn of a new Alexavian Empire. And second, he stepped down from power. With a new age dawning for the nation, a weakening old man was no longer the one to lead it. Instead he handed the reins to a new Empress, Helexa Talonsoul. Now the Alexavians look out from their mountain range. The Orcish legions are eager to march across new ground with their allies the Hill Giants and the Aerions supporting them from behind. A new era is about to begin.
Important Characters:
King Anciel Highflight
Anciel, son of Vanirael, was the fourteenth and final king of the Highflight Dynasty. A ruler known for his energy, eagerness and intelligence, he lead the besieged Aerions through the dark days of the Cho-Ja invasion, was the architect of the historic Pact of Unity with the Orcs, and launched the immensely successful Mountain Wars. In the days following their conclusion, he proclaimed a new Empire of Alexavia and Anciel and, having no heirs of his own, he passed the throne down to Helexa Talonsoul. Now the wise old Raptor stands beside the throne, chief advisor to the young and impetuous Empress.
Helexa Talonsoul
Helexa Talonsoul was born the daughter of Lord Nimelius Talonsoul, a high-ranking noble and governor of the city of Kalion. When she was eighteen years old, a fierce young warrior-princess, the Cho-Ja invasion ravaged Kalion, ending in the fall of the city and the death of her father. Escaping back to the capital of Extilium, she gained a commanding position under King Anciel Highflight himself. In the war's darkest days, when Extilium was under siege and the King's advisers convinced him against his will to flee to the high-mountain stronghold of Taelinis, Helexa stood alongside the Aerions' most senior generals in their successful defense of the capital. She later personally led the force that reclaimed Kalion from the Cho-Ja, making her a hero throughout the kingdom. Present at the singing of the Pact of Unity, Helexa became only the highest-ranking Aerion general during the Mountain Wars. At their conclusion, twelve years since she was thrust from her home by the Cho-Ja, the thirty-year-old Helexa Talonsoul was named Empress by Anciel Highflight, and since then she has become very eager to continue her legacy of conquest.
Ozrac the Scarred
Ozrac Gunthoro never expected to be any more than the greatest warrior of the Rukuku Black Orc Tribe. Hell, he never really thought one could be anything greater than the greatest warrior of the Rukuku Tribe. He was sure that he could have won ritual combat to become chieftain, but such a position of responsibility never appealed to him very much. But when his Chieftain signed the Aerions' Pact of Unity and the Rukuku warriors were reorganized into the 4th Legion of the Alexavian Kingdom, it was a whole new world. Ozrac's exploits in the Mountain Wars have become the stuff of legend, and it's difficult to say how much is really true. Certainly, he was the hero of the final battle against the Cho-Ja Queen's royal guards. Certainly, he was captured for six months by the Duergar, who tortured him mercilessly and gave him the most magnificent scars of any Orc in the kingdom. But is he strong enough to punch straight through a Cho-Ja carapace? Has he killed a dozen Bahannoth? Did he death-wrestle an Umber Hulk and win? Probably not. Nevertheless, there must be some truth behind the rumors, and Ozrac the Scarred now stands as one of the most feared and respected warriors in Alexavia.
Visuru Shantor
In the days before the Pact of Unity, Visuru Shantor was the greatest of the chieftains of the Orcish Tribes. His line stretches far back past the memory of any living Orc, and past the memories of their fathers and fathers' fathers. Their prestige is reflected in the name of Shantora, their largest settlement, which has in recent years grown up into a thriving Orcish city. Visuru was the first chieftain to sign the Pact of Unity, and without his support it is doubtful that many of the other clans would have done so. During the Mountain Wars he served as governor of Shantora, but having sat out those conflicts he cannot bear to miss the next; his fingers are itching for combat, and he will lead the Orcish legions to battle.
Eleus the Exemplary
Among the mages of Alexavia there is no true archmage; nevertheless, Eleus is seen as their de facto leader. Powerful beyond his years, the thirty-year-old Avian never wanted to see bloodshed; but his powers were forged in the fires of war, and he has come to love the thrill of battle. How the tide of war forces him to learn, adapt, and experiment, pushing his magical abilities to new heights and applying them for new purposes is the greatest joy he knows.
