Westfal

[map of all the imperial provinces]

The last limping remnant of the old Empyrean Empire, which once dominated the whole world. Though only a colony of the former Empyrean Empire, Westfal remains the largest land empire in the known world.

Demographics

It is predominantly human. There are elves and Valleymen who exist in the empire, but while they may take on advisory positions they are always at least nominally second to the human aristocracy.

The further west one goes, the more this is true. In the far southwest, there are those who go their entire lives only ever seeing their fellow man. In the heartland of the empire, they do not even see monsters and may believe the tales of creatures beyond their borders are myth and rumor.

Institutions

Westfal is incredibly decentralized. The powers of the emperor are limited, especially over the nobility. As a result, the emperor relies on being able to patronize various organizations inside the empire that then abide by his agenda, because they depend on the emperor's patronage.

The Heiress's Chosen

Westfal has a long and strange history with religion. The Empyrean Empire held through its whole existence that religion was a sickness of poisoned minds, and thus came The Imperial Truths. A very long list of strictures and tenets, the most important of which was that there are no gods but men, and no paradise but that of man's creation.

When the Empyrean heartland fell and only the colonies of Westfal remained, this gradually became less and less relevent. After a few centuries, there were even churches and mystery cults who operated out in the open, giving comfort to those of a religious bent.

In the modern day, the Imperial Truths have been discarded and all other cults have been deemed heathenous or heretical, and instead all that remains is worship of the Heiress. She who came down in times of great need, and gave salvation to an empire at its own throat.

In only the span of two generations, it has grown to dominate the whole empire. Those who claim atheism and hold to the Imperial Truths are tolerated at best, while the vast majority of the empire partakes of the church's strange strictures.

Those who are part of the church are known as the Chosen.

The Black Court

The Chosen believe that there are enemies to the church around every corner. That anyone who is not a true believer is a potential enemy. And all who do not serve them, are instead - wittingly or unwittingly - servants of the Black Court. An evil inversion of all that they hold to be holy and true.

Little is known about the Black Court beyond rumor and legend. One pervasive rumor exists, though. That they, in a dark reflection of counting one's generations from the holy Exalted, organize themselves in a hierarchy based on descent from their vampiric progenitor.

The Imperial Diaeta

The beating heart of Westfal. Where all the nobility convene in their thousands, and where no weapon is allowed (but plenty are smuggled in regardless). The Diaeta is not a single building, but a walled complex inside the city of White Harbor. It serves as an open forum for all nobility to speak their grievances and negotiate with their noble cousins.

Were it not for the Diaeta, there would be no need for every house major and major to employ their own Spymaster. And were it not for the Diaeta, there would be a thousand more wars fought than there are already. The spirit of open communication, undercut by factionalism and political intrigue, is what keeps Westfal united even as every individual thread of its grand tapestry tries to pull in its own direction.

The highest office of the Diarta is the Majordomo. One of the few offices not held exclusively by nobility or birthright, but instead by seniority. The Majordomo is always the longest serving servant of the Diaeta in good standing, regardless of temperment, competence, or senility.

The Colleges of War

While war in Nostrum is a necessity and war in the Narrows is unheard of, war in Westfal is an artform. The nobility would be a vestigial remnant of harder times, were it not for the fact that there is always war in Westfal. And that war is almost never from without, but from within. Noble War as it is called is fought usually over land disputes or on acount of high passions, and the emperor has no right to intervene in them except in defence of his own properties or alliances.

The headquarters of the colleges is within White Harbor, but the actual colleges themselves are spread all throughout the empire. For the nobility, tuition is covered by the emperor. For all others, they must pay the cost themselves.

In Westfal, they consider the number four a lucky number. There are four Lord-Cardinals, and four realms of competency they think a true knight should have. Those four attributes of a true knight are all covered as part of the basic curriculum across the Colleges of War. Dueling, equestrianism, generalship, and chivalry. Though what Westfalians consider chivalrous is abominable in some of the other cultures of the world.

The School of Artillery

Not the largest nor the most famous of the Colleges of War, but the School of Artillery is definitely the most secretive and elite. They provide an elite private guard to the emperor - The Fusiliers - but most of what they concern themselves with is proper artillery. The kind of artillery that must be wheeled about the battlefield by teams of horses, and are able to devastate fortifications from miles away.