Encyclopaedia of Aquila: Mendea

Encyclopaedia of Aquila

Volume VI: Mendea

WRR, John J. Reed

Dreiton, Downtown Barbossa Publisher's Guild

Thermidore, 1st dusk, 4852

"Five Preserve Us"

Introduction

Mendea volscia (Independent Mendea) is a sovereign nation comprising most of the traditional northern Kilranian region of Mendea. One of the longest inhabited places in Aquila, in antiquity the Empire of Mendea was a powerful kingdom ruled by a cabal of sorcerers known as the Sinnwalkers, the descendants of the ancient cult of Hades the Unseen. As masters of the occult, the Mendeans were among the greatest mortal kingdoms, exhibiting a command of the Old Ways only dreamt of by contemporary sorcerers. The Sinnwalkers were defeated around 100,000 BD by the first god-king Aetomemnon, bringing Mendea into the empire of Vulturia.

Some 50,000 years later, the dragon-prince Makrozoia destroyed Vulturia and formed the Xolumir Khaganate. Under Aetomemnon, the sorcerers of Mendea were allowed to more or less peacefully continue free practice of their magicks, but under the Mad King their arcane knowledge was banned and reserved only for the khagan’s favored armies. Nevertheless, their experiments into quintessence continued, and in 20,000 BD the grand necromancer Zagreus the Black declared himself heir to Hades and thus rightful king of the Mendeans. His armies of the undead and mastery over mortal spirits allowed him to quickly rally the scattered tribes of his homeland and prepare to march upon Xolumir, but the dark heir was no mattch for the celestial magicks of the Emperor, who invoked the Aetherial Scrolls to willingly crack the seal between the void and the mortal plane to allow the daemon-sultan to claim the souls of Vulturia’s dead. Thus the undead of Aquila received the curse of a permanent aversion to sunlight so as to hasten their passing to the void. Zagreus’ dark army was crushed, but his legendary necromantic ritual lived on, creating the first creepers, whose deadly spores would one day lay the seeds for the return of the army of the dead.

In the ensuing Hundred Year Darkness, the Mad King scoured Mendea for any suspected loyalists to Zagreus’ rebellion, systematically imprisoning and killing countless of the region’s peasants. By the end of the Darkness, the Mad King declared Mendea a dead nation and declared the province would thereafter simply be called Northern Kilran.

Northern Kilran” quietly persevered for several thousand years until the Great Desynchronization and ensuing rise of the Aquilan Empire. With the Mad King and his legions focused on scrambling to re-assimilate the other, more resource rich provinces, Northern Kilran was allowed to enter a short period of national rediscovery, though with so much of its culture “Xolumirized” over the centuries, the effort was a middling one. The vassal was spared from the slaughters of the Second Year Darkness, after which the Mad King’s daughter, Juno, decided to leave the marble halls of Xolumir and explore the great savage North. She lived incognito in the city of Sovinosk for some time, during which she took a great liking to the province and decided to call it her home. Taking with her only a sack of potatoes and her snow-white imperial cloak, she traveled deep into the Northern interior and settled at the edge of the great Lake Norvak to begin building her great secluded home, far from the war and politics of the imperial heartland. As she built her humble home with the aid of her celestial magicks, many roaming mule caravans took immediate notice to her as she passed by, mesmerized by her mastery of the arcane. Word spread across the North, and soon she had amassed a horde of peasants eager to serve her divinity in exchange for food and shelter. In time, she was convinced to allow any hungry peasants to also settle on Norvak’s edge as they pleased, so long as they assisted in hunting and foraging to support the new town. The increasingly vain goddess settled upon the name Junova, and by 1000 the young city rivaled even great Sovinosk in the north in population. The Mad King was extremely suspicious of her pet project in the north, but allowed her to continue “handling” the natives as he was far more concerned with training his sons in war and politics.

Allowed to continue unabated, Juno’s ascendance began the true national reawakening of the North, helping them rediscover the lost lore of Mendea and their heritage as great sorcerers. Slowly, the largely independent tribes which had comprised the province for so long began to unite under a basic unified culture; by 1500, the vast majority of the pastoral tribes agreed to confederate under the flag of Mendea, led by their Lady of Shadows, the immortal Juno. Imperial patriotism also soared over these centuries, with reverence for their goddess-queen extending to renewed faith in the aging Emperor himself. With the opening of the iron mines and subsequent discovery of large deposits of natural emeralds in the vassal, Mendea entered the Era of Good Prospects, booming in population growth and becoming more and more vital to the imperial economy. Though they suffered in the Great Hunger, their vast potato reserves and the resilience of their cattle allowed them to whether the storm and emerge as one of the most prosperous and populated provinces of the weakened Empire.

The Good Prospects came to an end, however, when it came to light that the Old Ways were resurfacing in the north. Figures within their ancient pantheon such as Coda, Hades, and even Zagreus were re-emerging, and Juno was apparently turning a blind eye to this growing heresy. The Mad King demanded that she reign her playthings in, but she refused, arguing that the stronger Mendea became, the stronger the Empire became, as it was then the second-most populated vassal. The emperor appeared to relent, but shortly after, Juno abruptly wished her subjects well and embarked on a journey to the great northeast, apparently going into self-exile. In 2545, after the Mendeans stubbornly continued to practice the dark arts despite warnings from Xolumir, the Mad King played his hand and officially banned the Old Ways throughout the entire Empire, punishable by death. The Imperial Inquisitors were formed and made their base in Junova, the epicenter of occult activities in the Emperor’s domain at the time.

Heretical elements went quiet shortly after the Inquisition established a permanent foothold in Mendea, though elsewhere in the Empire and in the far-off realm of Aphelion, the Acolytes of the Beyond were on the rise in eclectic circles. The Inquisitors were aware of these elements and attempted to put the squeeze on the Mendeans for information as to their whereabouts, but these new counter-heretical efforts came to a halt with the Mad King’s surprise declaration of war with the Khotani in the north. As the closest province to the enemy, imperial legionnaires flooded the cities of Mendea and constructed massive naval bases on its frigid northern coast. The ensuing war devastated the region caught between two great powers, and the aftermath reset centuries of development in the form of the Second Great Hunger, followed by the Pestilence. After years of oppression at the hands of the inquisitors and astounding apathy towards the famine, Mendea rediscovered its profound resentment for the Empire, sowing the seeds of rebellion once more. The vassal fell into chaos with warlords and crime syndicates filling the power vacuum left by Xolumir; the far-northern city of Vicis became the center of Aquila’s emerging slave trade, signaling a global breakdown of law and order. Mendea devolved into small cliques once again, with its vast countryside filled with pastoral nomads and bandit caravans, and its crowded cities a haven for the worst criminals in what was left of the crumbling Empire. The region entered a period of stagnation for centuries, with Xolumir not even bothering to enforce anti-slavery laws in Vicis.

In 4350, the ancient Empire was finally showing signs of imminent dissolution when its legions failed to put down a string of nationalist rebellions in the south. Spurred on by the increasing influence of the Acolytes and other occult groups, worship for figures such as Moros, Hades, and even Juno re-emerged in secrecy. When the war for succession between Novratoch and Herobrine finally broke out, the warlords of Mendea sided with the latter, who promised them freedom of religious worship should he become Emperor. The resulting Kilran War pitted Mendea against its eastern neighbor, the Karishan clique; Mendea’s victory and annexation of Belial massively increased national pride with the nation’s sons and daughters taking up arms against a common foe for the first time in living memory. However, the war ultimately ended in defeat for Herobrine by honorable duel, leaving Mendea isolated as a sovereign nation after eons of imperial occupation. Though the war had been a great source of national pride, with no great enemy the Mendeans receded back into warlord confederalism. Twenty years later, a reinvigorated Karisha were able to re-annex Belial with relatively little resistance as the extremely loose tribal confederation of Mendea were unable to muster up anything resembling a standing national army.

The status quo continued for centuries until the invasion of the Ancient Fear, in which nearly every ex-imperial clique of Kilran united to repel the alien threat. The Alliance, which even included foreign nations such as the Siviseans, ultimately triumphed over the Ancient Fear, creating optimism for the prospects of peace for the continent. The Olnek clique across the Diocretian Mountains – the heartland of what used to be the Empire – went so far as to rally for the cause of a united government for the overworld to bring all Aquilans under one banner; when the Olnish formed mighty Nova Aquila, many surrounding states agreed to annexation, but the likes of Mendea, Karisha, and Bobyrujsk refused, preferring to remain sovereign.

Nova Aquila quickly came into its role as the “new Empire.” Starting with Bobyrujsk, they began to use their immense military might to forcefully incorporate regions of the non-compliant states, and the Mendeans were unable to resist the annexation of their western province of Sinnbad. Worse still, history repeated as the region was used as a battleground for the warring Nova Aquila and Khotan. The War of the Sunflower ended with Aquila allowing Khotan to annex huge portions of Mendea’s northern coast, despite both nations ostensibly still being constituents of the Alliance.

Outrage spread like wildfire in the clique’s urban centers and northern countryside, with nationalist sentiment finally reaching a boiling point after the betrayal of Nova Aquila. The underground terrorist group, the Khadjinn, immediately took to the streets and orchestrated the Highharveste Riots, driving the local warlord government out and placing the nationalists in control of Sovinosk. Cells in Junova and Codania spontaneously rose up as well, aided by parallel urban sects of the Followers of the Old Ways. By end of year, the Khadjinn’s leader, Set Safin, declared himself Chief and vowed to restore Mendea to its rightful, natural borders.

Geography

Mendea is a vast, harsh region with the most extreme climate on the Kilran-Ertdor supercontinent. In the country’s south lies the shadow of the Diocretian mountain range, a considerable strip of desert steppe largely devoid of any complex life apart from the occasional caravan crossing the valley into Olnek. The north, now largely under Khotani occupation, is mostly frozen tundra choked with permafrost. Most civilization is centered in the somewhat pleasant central region, where hardened natives may be able to cultivate small colonies of potato or beet amid the frigid and tranquil Mendean steppe.

People and society

Most of Mendea has been defined by nomadic pastoralism until relatively recent history when technology allowed the introduction of international trade. The population split between rural and urban is roughly 50-50 as of 4852, though increasing industrialization has raised speculation of an impending baby boom in the young country’s expanding cities. The gruff and headstrong population of just over 7 million mostly speak exclusively High Kilranian, though Aquilan standard is relatively common, and other languages are very slowly being introduced to the nation’s port towns. The dominant faith is simply called “The Five” – entailing the worship of Moros, Hades, Zagreus, Juno, and Herobrine as liberatory deities. There is significant overlap in the religious observations of the Five and many of the mainstream interpretations of the Old Ways, suggesting a strong occult presence throughout the country. The influence of the Five divines can be observed on Mendea’s flag with its unique five pointed star.

Government

The confederal system of provincial tribes is technically still in place but has largely become subservient to dictator Set Safin’s inner circle of allies – mostly loyal military leaders and landowners. This effectively makes Mendea a large-scale military junta, with Safin as its supreme leader and his top generals serving as regional governors. The state, despite being largely decentralized, is able to maintain its borders through its control of the trade routes and urban centers, as well as its monopoly on military force to protect the caravans from bandits and foreign invaders. It is summarized as a "devolved confederal democracy under military junta."

Economy

Mendea is notable for being the only known region on Aquila with any significant proven lapis lazuli mines, and its deep shafts in the Diocretian south have yielded modest amounts of coal and iron besides. With so much of the population still living the pastoral life, large segments of potential economic stimuli simply remain untapped as the country lacks both the manpower and technology to exploit them for the time being. There are, however, reports of large underground pockets of natural redstone gas in the northeast, which may give the nation some much needed capital if they can be accessed.

Technology

Implements of redstone beyond simple heating and lighting are scarce to none in Mendea, creating a high demand for physical labor and a growing import sector.

Military and security

Despite their technological inferiority, the steppe warriors of Mendea are feared across Aquila. Tales of their horse-mounted archers with impeccable speed and aim coupled with fearsome juggernauts armed with giant axes and spiked shields have spread to all corners of the world, giving Mendea one of the fiercest national images in Aquila. Their lack of reliable radio technology makes coordination of the roaming cavalry difficult, though this has largely been circumvented by a system of highly trained messenger eagles native to the region.

Foreign and domestic disputes

Mendea is one of a handful of “rogue” Aquilan states, but the category is probably more applicable to the nationalists of the steppes than any other. They have no formal allies and maintain no foreign embassies, elevating them to a level of national isolation rivaling the likes of Eletsya and Siluria. They have no shortage of enemies, however, with large swaths of the country under occupation by three different nations. There are elements of continued warlordism in certain circles, but they largely go ignored.

Hostile powers

Khotan

Karisha

Nova Aquila