Link to the first post about Filactrone

~1890 years since the Great Burning.

Forksland

Forksland is only a mere patch of land in comparison to the other lands of Philactron. It consists of the Forksland Archipelago and its continental mainland. Yet this land remains virtually the only region about which its inhabitants possess any reliable knowledge.

If described from west to east, Forksland first leads us to Ansual — a northwestern archipelago which, according to legend, served as the point of entry and exit of the Ancients into Philactron. Today, it is a power whose aircraft are among the most advanced, and Ansual logistics companies form a significant part of Forksland’s trade network. In essence, Ansual is the centre of airship construction in Forksland.

The country is governed by the Ansual Assembly, a democratic body that elects a prime minister every five years.

Moving further east, we encounter several states arranged in a rough linear formation.

Kingdom of Regnum

The Kingdom of Regnum is a feudal monarchy that, in essence, resembles a highly developed techno-barbarian formation rather than a modern state. Nevertheless, in contemporary politics it is tacitly regarded as the “granary of Forksland” — a heavily populated granary upon whose agricultural exports global food prices depend.

Despite its general backwardness and status as a “catching-up” power, Regnum is believed to have preserved certain secrets — either extraordinary cultivation techniques, exceptional fertilizers, or perhaps both. Alternatively, the kingdom may simply have been less affected by the consequences of the Burning, resulting in half as many clouds and a significantly lower probability of lethal precipitation.

The king and much of the Regnum elite are evidently aware of their global position, which is why their embassies have, over the past decades, opened in nearly all civilized states of Forksland. Diplomats of the “Kingdom of Golden Fields” are generally open to dialogue and are often received more favorably than others.

Empire of Nal

The Empire of Nal is an absolute monarchy with its capital in N.A.L., commonly known as Nal. Essentially, Nal as a whole is a metropolis consisting of the city of Nal and its subordinate colonial regions, governed either by direct relatives of the Nal emperor or by high aristocrats entirely dependent on the central authority.

Accordingly, the entire economy of Nal is built around servicing the enormous resource demands of the center.

N.A.L. is the least damaged of all Ancient cities in Forksland currently inhabited by humans. It is also the most technologically advanced region after the Holy Land, which is why the Nal ruler frequently clashes with the Holy See over the pace of technological development and various restrictions.

It is also reliably known that Nal retains Ancient defensive systems — specifically so-called “transparent domes” — which make the capital the most intact among all hive-cities.

The Nal aristocracy is the oldest, most branched, proudest, and in their own view the most cultured compared to the “recent barbarians” surrounding them. What else may lie within the depths of the capital can only be speculated, as almost no information is available.

Only five years ago, Nal lost a war to Domina, resulting in the loss of the hive-city of Leibz and all surrounding territories. This has deeply wounded the pride of the ancient state, and its effects are still visible in daily life and culture.

Duguigur Khanate

The Duguigur Khanate consists of clans of techno-barbarians roaming the eastern wastelands on enormous Ancient machines — so large that entire cities are built upon them. While not comparable in size to hive-cities, they are still of impressive scale.

These predatory machines are powered by crystals from the Otherworld, a realm once studied by the Ancients — the same crystals that the Holy Land receives annually from each state as payment for the blessings granted by the Cult of the Ancients.

The Duguigur, however, have access to the most extensive sources of these crystals, since the boundary between the Otherworld and reality is thinnest in their lands, resulting in frequent portal storms.

The Khanate is pagan and maintains virtually no relations with the civilized world. Nevertheless, rare techno-shamans of Duguigur possess knowledge sometimes comparable to that of the priests of the Holy Land.

Republic of Makerdania

The Republic of Makerdania is a distant northeastern political entity, essentially a collection of factions controlling nominal republican territories, which are almost constantly engaged in bloody intrigue against one another, with occasional escalations in the form of civil wars.

It is a haven for mercenaries, criminal organizations, and numerous insurgent movements.

The only relatively stable administrative structure is the Makerdanian Congress, which elects an international representative who is replaced — by various means — several times per year.

Makerdania lies far east of Nal, beyond the Domain of the Slaviins. Beyond Makerdania lie wastelands, ruins, destroyed megastructures, creatures emerging from the deepest depths, and relics of the Ancients.

Helvetia

Helvetia is the smallest state in Forksland, yet one of the most stable. It is a land of mountains and Ancient bunkers.

Despite its small population, it remains highly autonomous. In modern times, Helvetia has become the financial center of Forksland, hosting some of the most renowned banks as well as the most prominent offshore and financial structures, both legal and illegal.

Situated between Nal, Domina, and Regnum, the Helvetian Bank is considered the most reliable — and also the most discreet when it comes to inquiries.

Anyone who holds an account there is automatically granted significant social weight.

The country is governed by the Helvetian High Council.

Domain of the Slaviins

The Domain of the Slaviins is a northern elective monarchy in which the monarch, known as the “Holder,” is elected every ten years by a council of noble Slaviin representatives from the hive-cities.

The Domain possesses the strongest naval fleet in Forksland and regularly conducts expeditions to the far north together with the even more northern inhabitants of the frozen lands.

From these northern peoples, the cult of the “Guardians” has gained increasing popularity in the Domain over recent decades.

Despite its naval strength and ambitions in the far north, internal conditions are unstable. In particular, the lower levels of the hive-city of Deges are currently engulfed in multi-layered riots involving millions of people, which Slaviin forces are attempting to suppress.

During the war between Domina and Nal, the Slaviins attempted to intervene in the struggle for Leibz, but after several defeats and the end of the Holder’s term, they withdrew from the war.

Domina

Domina — the Imperial Dominion of the Federates and Allied Lands, more commonly known as the Domina Empire — is a composite imperial structure consisting of three federates, the allied Grand Duchy of Fuddenland, and the Aristocratic Republic of Ge-Senn.

Exactly 100 years ago, the first emperor of Domina, Hok akr Karknit, succeeded in creating this supranational entity through both force and diplomacy.

Before Emperor Hok, the lands of Domina were a patchwork of petty states and techno-barbarian clans that defiled the ruins of the Greats.

Grand Duchy of Fuddenland

At the time of unification, the Grand Duchy of Fuddenland was the main rival of the first emperor. Despite the apparent backwardness of this agrarian region, the Fudden feudal lords possessed powerful machines of the past, including, according to accounts, a gigantic walker belonging to the Duke of Fuddenland himself.

The identity of the great comital houses of Fudden is built around these machines, whose maintenance consumes a large portion of the duchy’s annual income.

Instead of engaging in open war, the first emperor chose a dynastic union, resulting in the formation of the Kark-Fudden branch of the Karknit house, which remains the guarantee of the alliance, reinforced by subsequent marriages.

Beyond blood ties, Fudden’s status is defined in the “Fudden Charter,” which grants broad autonomy in exchange for access to its peasant recruitment base and specialized cavalry — both mechanical and otherwise.

In addition, Fudden is obliged to provide all grain for imperial needs, retaining only what is necessary for its own survival.

Aristocratic Republic of Ge-Senn

The Aristocratic Republic of Ge-Senn is a southern coastal region that once consisted of a conglomerate of criminal factions and syndicates. Since the time of the Burning, these groups have transformed into maritime barons who strike from sea and air against sea creatures, and who have gradually shifted from raiding to maritime trade and, according to unofficial rumors, smuggling.

The first emperor concluded a vassal treaty with the council of maritime barons. In addition to standard imperial obligations, Domina gained access to two fleets: commercial and military.

The Three Federates

Finally, the three federates are Krimain, Spletten, and Krübenburg.

• Krimain — a northern federate ruled by corporations, rich in coal and the most industrialized region of the empire.
• Spletten — the technological hub of Domina.
• Krübenburg — a military junta with a long-standing conflict with Ge-Senn.

These three regions joined Domina under special treaties, which require imperial tribute payments and the provision of economic and industrial resources in exchange for internal autonomy that does not contradict imperial law.

And it is precisely the peoples of these states who currently exist on the maps. Their destinies may change at any moment, as may the fate of all Philactron-13…

P.S.

At first, I intended to describe a single country… but it ended up turning into this instead.

I’m not very good at drawing or anything visual, so I tried to keep the description short but still meaningful. It’s probably obvious that some regions are less developed than others right now, but that’s only because everything here is meant as a quick introduction.

If there are any requests to explore something in more detail, the next post will be about that. Otherwise, I’ll just describe whatever I personally feel is worth covering next)

~1890 years since the Great Burning.

Philactron-13

No one truly knows why the planet that endured so much was named exactly this way. The first humans — the "Great Ones" or "Ancients" — called it Philactron, which roughly translates as "Bulwark" or "Stronghold". The meaning of "13" has been lost to time, and unless you’re a historian or a bastard-archaeologist, there’s little point dwelling on it.

Today, Philactron is a vast scorched wasteland pierced by colossal structures of unknown purpose. Monstrous beasts roam among forests of rusting metal and the new, fire-born flora. The planetary sun reliably illuminates only the southern regions. The north and central parts are almost constantly covered by unnatural clouds. In the far north there are seasons of acid rains and portal storms. The central archipelago, known as the Scorched Cradle — once the heart of the Ancient world — is now completely uninhabitable. The seas are home to creatures that have yet to be fully documented.

In these conditions, on the ruins of a civilization many times greater than their own, the survivors of the Burning and those who endured the Long Darkness now stand on the threshold of the end of relatively peaceful centuries.

Throughout their long journey they have been guided by the Order of the Holy Core — one of the few direct descendants of the Ancients who survived the Burning on artificial island-platforms. These floating monuments to the lost mastery of the old world preserved key knowledge. Guided by the Great Plan, the Order leads humanity toward a bright future, so that one day they may be ready for reunion with the Ancients.

The mass enlightenment of techno-barbarians, the taming of steam and electricity, humanity’s return to the skies, and the discovery of the secrets of dark oil have caused a dramatic technological leap in recent decades. While factory smokestacks rise above growing cities and airships cut through the clouds, in other places ancient dogmas, century-old prejudices, and archaic institutions try to suppress rising dissent. They act out of reverent fear of the unknown consequences of tampering with the ruins of the Great Ones.

Because sometimes, in the depths, there dwells something that should never have been awakened…

About this setting

This is a volatile, deliberate fusion of many different genres and universes that have been stewing in my head for a long time and have finally coalesced into something coherent. I run a tabletop RPG in this world, but the original question in the title made me want to develop it into something bigger.

I’d love to hear your questions and thoughts.

English is not my native language (im Russian) — apologies for any awkwardness.