The Nine Kingdoms of Arn: Arn, the Emerald Kingdom

Kingdom Profile: ARN

Major Cities/Townships: Imperial City of Lhor; Magdad, Ghenodras, Dhurras.
Population: 340,560, Mixed (Humans 79%, Orcs 11%, Half-orcs 5%, Elves 2%, Dwarves 2%, Other 1%)
Government: Magocracy; Grand Covenant of Magi, led by Her Most Magnificent Emerald Presence, Empress-Magus Arwyn I (human female Ari3/Wiz13/Archmage2)
Predominant Religion(s): Divine Magus
Resources: magic items, slaves
Common Language(s): Common, Draconic, Orcish
Regional Feat(s): Arcane Schooling, Courteous Magocracy, Discipline, Magical Talent

The sovereign kingdom of the Empire, Arn is home to a very militaristic magocracy. The current Empress of Arn is Arwyn, granddaughter of the Warrior Queen Anastacia, who first forged the Empire of the Nine Kingdoms.

The Nine Kingdoms of Arn were united in a series of vicious battles under the Warrior Queen Anastacia. In the five decades since she has united the nine major kingdoms under her family's control, the Kingdoms have flourished, though sometimes not happily. Most of the minor islands do not interfere with the shipping between the Nine Kingdoms, but humanoid renders roam the High Seas, and piracy and villainy abounds upon the waters.

The Order Arcane of Arn chronicles the lore, both arcane and mundane, of the Kingdom of Arn, and has since its inception. Anastacia became Empress Anastacia I of the Nine Kingdoms in 947 YA (Year of the Rule of Arn). Her daughter, Arabella I, took the throne after Anastacia's assassination in 956 YA. Arabella's cruel reign lasted for almost four decades, before she, too, fell to an assassin's blade in 994 YA.

Arabella's three daughters (Arwyn, Alyssa, and the youngest, Aetherwyn) vied for control of the Nine Kingdoms for two years before Alyssa died on the High Seas and Aetherwyn fled into hiding, leaving Arwyn to assume the title of Empress of the Nine Kingdoms in late 996 YA.

LIFE AND SOCIETY

Within the Kingdom of Arn, magical accomplishments are the key to elevating one's social status. Becoming a member of the Order Arcane is the equivalent of joining Arnian aristocracy. Indeed, the only spellcasters more highly respected in Arn are the Archmages that make up the Grand Covenant of Magi, and the Empress-Mage herself, who rules from the Emerald Throne of Imperial Lhor. Magelords tend to wear the green robes of their station in public, and are often accompanied by bodyguards and servants of various forms and fashions.

Within the Nine Kingdoms, the Magelords of Arn, by virtue of their magical aptitude and their station in the Arnian aristocracy, are granted the right to own slaves. In addition, clerics of the Divine Magus, the state religion of Arn, as also granted the right to own slaves. The population of Arn thus divided into three social classes: Magelords, servants, and slaves. This privilege is protected and pursued at all Arnian Enclaves via the Right of Sanctuary, one of three Rights that must be established before any Enclave is created.

MAJOR FEATURES

• Ghenodras, City of Temples, lies in the center of miles upon miles of large temples constructed by kingdom slaves. Each built larger and more grandiose than the last, they are quickly abandoned after the solstice of the Rainy Season, the Longest Night, after the temple has been used once for certain secretive rituals. One thousand and one temples have been constructed and abandoned thus far, one for each year since the magocracy took control of Arn, and the older ones have fallen into ruin and great disrepair with the passing of time.
• The Shattered Plains of Elden Lhor is a blackened mesa of obsidian in the midst of craggy Arn, where once stood the first capital city of Arn. Ancient tomes describe Elden Lhor as a beautiful city of crystal and pearlescent buildings, a city of light, until the Mage Wars struck it. In an explosion of searing light, Elden Lhor vanished, leaving behind only the obsidian mesa as a testament to the strength and power of the Magelords of Arn.

PLOTS AND RUMORS

• It is whispered in hushed tones that hundreds of slaves are sacrificed each year at Ghenodras's secretive rituals on the eve of the Longest Night, but a recent rumor speaks that an outsider has discovered the slaves are not slain, but still live in one of the planes beyond the Shadowlands. The Magelords have made no comment, but are making extensive use of divinations to determine this rumor's source, to no avail.
• Military forces are gathering along the western shores of Arn near Magdad and Dhurras, after Gevedra's most recent refusal to bring themselves into the Empire of Arn peacably. Official word is that the Arnian forces gather to face a potential threat to the Nine Kingdoms from the south, but some voices outside the Nine Kingdoms proper are skeptical of these claims.