Astral

Astral is a grassland country with a vast shore located within Heavenry. Mountains help make up its border with Owhary. Astral is made up mainly of cities and towns, and forests are very scarce to find.

The Industrial Country, Land of Wealth, The Regal Land.

87,000 people live in Astral, spread across in the vast amounts of towns and cities within. Astral is made up of 50,000 humans, 10,000 pallid elves, 5,000 mark of shadow elves and 2,000 various undead creatures.

The social hierarchy is generally a typical hereditary monarchy, where there is a royal family and underneath the royal family are nobles, knights and clergy, while under them are peasants and serfs.

Copper, silver and gold coins are used.

The major laws in the country are no robberies, thefts, murders, kidnappings, rapes, or any violent crimes. These laws are heavily enforced by the military and local militias that are employed by the nobles who govern the towns.

Classical music and waltz music is heavily popular in Astral, while smaller villages typically still listen to folk music.

Education is slightly important in the country, as nobles are in school from the ages of 1 year of age to 30 years of age. Peasants are also educated though they typically stop school years at the age of 20 and do not learn as much or in depth as nobles.

Victorian architecture is very popular in Astral, as you can find tall, looming buildings in every city, roads paved with large stones and electricity in every street lamp and building. Towns also reflect this Victorian architecture, not to the same grand scale as the cities though their buildings are just as magnificent to view. Villages are slowly building to the same aesthetic as their larger counterparts, though some parts of villages are still behind.

Astral is a fairly sized country, claiming the shore of Heavenry for itself along with the plains. The border of the country starts where the plains begin to turn into mountains.

Astral imports the majority of its crops from the neighboring continents of Orpheus and Bastion and grow their own cabbages, corn and wheat.

Astral's climate gets very hot in the summer due to them being down in a valley area, though the closer towns and cities to the mountains do not get the same amount of heat as the lower areas do. It gets fairly cold in the winter, typically to 30 degrees.

Astral was founded in 789 M.E by King Mynter Heavenry and was declared a holy kingdom, blessed by the gods and a gift from them to the mortals who settled upon Heavenry. King Mynter was worshipped as a mortal either blessed by the gods or had godly blood in his bloodline. He commanded his people to build temples to Carrion, Crues and Avol as he deemed these three gods to be the ones who truly look after and love their holy kingdom and land.

In 792 M.E, King Mynter Heavenry married a noble woman named Jewels Alabaster who traveled to Astral from the neighboring continent of Orpheus. The marriage between them helped cement trade and an alliance with Orpheus and blessed the kingdom with twins; a prince and princess. After the birth of their twins, Queen Jewels passed away due to complications after birth, leaving King Mynter alone to raise his two children, Prince Midas Heavenry and Princess Mina Heavenry. In 810 M.E, King Mynter died of old age and named his son Midas as the new king in his will. Princess Mina objected against her brother being crowned, claiming that she had stronger godly blood in her veins and that Avol had come to her in dreams, telling her that she was the rightful heir to the throne.

Outraged by his sister claiming him to be unfit and that the gods declared her to be the rightful heir, King Midas exiled Mina from the kingdom and she soon started a rebellion against Midas. This started the first war on Heavenry, known as the Astral Civil War, which lasted for five months as Mina declared a new kingdom and country named Owhary and deemed herself God-Queen. God-Queen Mina and her army took over Crues' temple and Avol's temple, along with the land beyond the mountain range. King Midas surrendered a month after the creation of Owhary, where he relented the land and temples that God-Queen Mina took over.

A peace treaty was written up and signed by the two kingdoms, in the terms of the peace treaty it was agreed that citizens from either country could pilgrimage to the temples, no matter what country it was in or if it was in a time of peace or war; additionally, another important clause was that there was to be trade between both countries, stating that goods from Orpheus would be traded to Owhary for goods from the Kheggrin Forge dwarves. The peace treaty was later named the Words and Promises of the Monarchs.

In 811 M.E, a year after the peace treaty was signed, King Midas Heavenry married Talia Kyster, the daughter of his advisor. King Midas did not give his wife the title of queen and instead gave her the title of Lady Consort of Kleigh, which upset Talia and her father, Crown Advisor Bernhardt Kyster. Crown Advisor Bernhardt cursed King Midas in secret, cursing him that his firstborn son could not be loved by any mortal and therefore ending his bloodline. A few years after the marriage between King Midas and Lady Consort Talia, a son was born to the pair and was named Mynter II, after his grandfather and King Midas' father. Lady Consort Talia resented her son throughout her pregnancy, his birth and his childhood as he was named Crown Prince and Lord of Kleigh by her husband, King Midas.

Prince Mynter II grew up isolated and without fun or friends. King Midas was busy with royal duties, his mother resented him and never talked to him, and his grandfather fed him lies to twist his mind and personality. Prince Mynter II was never allowed outside of the castle or onto the castle grounds, he stayed confined in his wing of the castle, only getting sunlight through windows or on a balcony. Just as his mother resented him, Prince Mynter II began to resent his mother and father.

In 829 M.E, a royal ball was held in the city of Strand in Owhary to celebrate the 18th birthday of Prince Mynter II and the 20th birthday of Prince Myn, the son of God-Queen Mina. During the royal ball, Prince Mynter II watched his cousin, aunt and uncle's strong familial bonds which started to stir up dormant feelings of anger, hurt and hatred towards his family. After the first dance between the rulers of both kingdoms, Prince Mynter II attacked his cousin with a pitcher of hot water for tea, throwing the water onto his cousin and burning part of his face, chest and leg in the process. Prince Mynter II was immediately grabbed by King Midas and dragged away from the scene, while God-Queen Mina hysterically attended to her son's injuries while declaring that she would kill her nephew for hurting her son and violating the peace treaty.

The royal family of Astral escaped Strand and returned back to Kleigh, where a missive from God-Queen Mina arrived declaring war upon the kingdom of Astral once again. Prince Mynter II was severely punished for attacking his cousin, sentenced to the dungeon of the castle where he was held for a year, during which he would be whipped and made to repent his crimes to a grave cleric so that he must make peace that his actions will cause the deaths of many soldiers, citizens and possibly his father.

During the year Prince Mynter II was held in the dungeon, war waged outside of Kleigh. People in both kingdoms were slaughtered daily, including people who were pilgriming to Owhary temples. The war lasted another four years, until Owhary surrendered by call of God-King Myn, who had assassinated his mother a few months prior to the surrender. God-King Myn and King Midas met in the merchant city of Andpolis in Astral, which was located at the border of both countries. Prince Mynter II was forced to kneel and grovel to his cousin, apologizing for the casualties caused by his actions, where he was swiftly forgiven and made to stand by God-King Myn.

At the end of 850 M.E, King Midas died of a heart attack after attending a play written about the Owhary's Wrath war. Prince Mynter II was crowned King of Astral Kingdom in 851 M.E, much to the protest of his mother, Lady Consort of Kleigh Talia Kyster-Heavenry. King Mynter II's first decree was exiling his mother from the country, where he placed her on a ship and never saw her again. King Mynter II spent the first four years of his reign building the cities and towns of Astral up, expanding their buildings and border limits. Though he did many things for his citizens, he was not loved and regarded with a neutrality no matter what decree he declared or what right he gave them. The lack of love from his parents and citizens threw him into despair and he spent the next five years searching for a spouse under the guise of visiting his people to learn of their needs.

His search was fruitless and his despair growing, King Mynter II declared a temple to Bevreli, the Goddess of Love and Peace, be built close to the capitol city of Kleigh. It took a year to build the temple, but eventually it stood made of beautiful marble, adorned with masterpiece paintings and filled with only the prettiest of temple maidens and clerics of peace. King Mynter II regularly traveled to, prayed and offered to Bevreli for her to give him someone for him to love and for them to love him back. One night in 860 M.E, while King Mynter II was praying in Bevreli's temple, the goddess herself appeared before him and took him within her arms, telling him his prayers have been answered.

King Mynter II returned back to Kleigh the next day and remained within the castle, a renewed man who claimed to have been blessed by the goddess he fervently prayed to. This blessing was proven to the people when a temple maiden from Bevreli's temple arrived to the castle doorsteps with a baby girl. King Mynter II instantly knew that the child was his and Bevreli's daughter, who he soon became enamored with. She was named Crown Princess Myla Heavenry, and was raised with love and all the attention King Mynter II could give to her.

Princess Myla adored her father and the people of Astral; as she grew up, her father would frequently take her out of the castle to go from town to town, city to city, greeting the citizens and peasants of the villages. The citizens of Astral soon began to claim that whenever Princess Myla visited, more people found love, more children were born and the sick became healthy. King Mynter II revealed the truth of Princess Myla's parentage in the year 872 M.E, announcing that she was a true, physical blessing of the gods. The truth of her being a demi-god sent the citizens into fanatical prayers and soon Bevreli became the matron goddess of Astral.

In 890 M.E, King Mynter II passed away of old age and was known as the first king of Astral to live past the age of 65. Princess Myla was crowned as Queen of Astral a few months after the death of her father. She continued her father's legacy of helping her citizens prosper, visiting cities, towns and villages whenever she could. Under her rule, birthrates increased drastically and the death rate plummeted. Queen Myla ruled alone until 898 M.E, when she visited Ancesa, a small farm village on the outskirts of the vast Astral cemetery and met a humble human cemetery caretaker by the name of Daniel Plaid. Queen Myla fell in love with Daniel after spending a week in Ancesa, and asked Daniel to come to Kleigh with her. Daniel accepted her offer and his younger brother took his role of cemetery caretaker.

Queen Myla and Daniel were married in 900 M.E, where she gave him the title of King of Astral. Queen Myla and King Daniel were blessed with triplets in 902 M.E, two sons, Mylo Heavenry and Minster Heavenry, and one daughter, Moira Heavenry. Queen Myla and King Daniel raised their three children with love, though Queen Myla could not spend much time with her children as she still routinely visited Astral's cities as to keep her citizens happy and healthy.

In 925 M.E, Queen Myla disappeared from the kingdom. King Daniel was heartbroken and would not tell his children where their mother went, only informing them that she named Mylo the King of Astral. King Daniel stepped down from his royal duties and left Kleigh, returning to the Astral cemetery, where he passed away a year later. King Mylo was distraught over his mother's disappearance and his father's death; he began to feel overwhelmed by the suddenness of events and the despair his citizens felt over losing their beloved Queen Myla. In 927 M.E, King Mylo threw himself off the fourth floor balcony of the castle and died upon impact. His brother Minster passed up the throne and gave it to his sister Moira. Moira was crowned Queen of Astral in 928 M.E, where she gained the support of the citizens after claiming that her mother visited her in a mirror, telling her that she had ascended to the realm of gods and that she was still here, blessing them everyday.

Queen Moira Heavenry became a strict ruler who increased the might of Astral's military, claiming that too much energy was spent upon the arts and enjoyment of the citizens and not on their safety. Astral's military saw an increase of soldiers and high ranking officers, along with improved weaponry including the creation of the first magic cannon. Magic users were encouraged to join the military and their abilities soon became weaponized.

In 940 M.E, Queen Moira Heavenry married a Mark of Shadow elf sorcerer named Tavvis Siltral, who was a general in the military she created. He was not given the title of king, but instead given the title of General-Consort. Their marriage was a loveless one, done only out of necessity to give an heir to the throne as Queen Moira grew sicker by the day. Queen Moira gave birth to a daughter in 943 M.E and passed away hours later. General-Consort Tavvis ruled the kingdom until his daughter, Micra Heavenry, was old enough to take the crown of Queen.

In 963 M.E, Micra Heavenry was crowned Queen of Astral and her father returned to the military city of Haacaster, relinquishing his title of General-Consort to be a General in the Astral Military. Queen Micra was fascinated with magic and technology, often spending her time researching it and increasing her magical abilities. She gave loans and grants to scholars, technologists and blacksmiths to see what new things they would create. In 999 M.E, electricity was discovered and the first lightbulb was created, and the turn of the century came.

Astral had entered the Industrial Victorian Era and quickly things were progressing. Motorized carriages were made and the richest of nobles lavished around in them, streetlamps lit up the darken cities and roads in Astral, and radios were invented to play the most beautiful waltz orchestras in the comfort of one's home. 50 years into the Industrial Victorian Era, Queen Micra declared to the whole continent that she would fund the research of any scholar or blacksmith who could create advanced technology infused with magic. Researchers in Astral and Owhary put their noses to the books and spent years laboring, which paid off in 58 I.V.E when the first Artificers' Guild was created in Selstead, Owhary.

In 80 I.V.E, General Morornil Spellaerith, a High Elven general in the High Elf army docked with 50 High Elven warships on a dock near the fisher village Ancesa. Morornil declared war upon Astral and launched an attack on Ancesa, causing the citizens to flee. His army of 400,000 High Elves turned their attacks upon Carrion's temple, slaughtering the family of cemetery caretakers , destroying graves and tearing down the temple. The citizens of Ancesa that had fled to the nearby town of Hodon spread word that the war had finally spread to Astral. A message to Queen Micra was sent and she declared war upon the High Elves. War broke out in the kingdom and the military city of Haacaster drove the High Elves from the eastern side of Astral, successfully splitting their army. Half of the army went into Owhary to continue their crusade and the other half spread to the western side.

The battle on Heavenry lasted for over two years, with casualties on both sides growing every day. The battle was over when General Morornil Spellaerith was killed by Kheggrin's Forgemaster and the small units of High Elves left were either killed or fled the country. A year after the battle ended, the land around the Astral cemetery began to decay. Clerics of grave and clerics of death that were there attempting to rebuild Carrion's temple observed that the temple's ruins was the source of the decay.

Clerics spent day and night attempting to pray to the goddess to stop the corruption of the land, but eventually the temple went quiet. The nearby military city Haacaster grew dark a few months after the temple went quiet. Death had taken over the city, turning it into a shell of its former self; the military that was left within it fought against the citizens who were slowly going mad, but their weakened state caused those strong enough to flee and the weak were left to be eaten by the city's madness. Nights grew longer, the sun barely shown in the sky as fog spewed out from any crevice it could, crime rose and the dead began to walk with new, corrupted life within. Haacaster changed fully within a decade, becoming a den of despair, a haven for the deplorable and a castle for those who enjoyed grotesque decadence.

Nobles that had locked themselves away in their respective manors and mansions began to get greeted by beautiful men and women who only introduced themselves as Limbo's Company. They held lavish parties within the nobles' manors and mansions, feasting on their hosts and vice versa. Limbo's Company eventually vanished within the night, leaving their pet nobles hungry and turned into a debauched versions of themselves. Haacaster officially belonged to the night. Queen Micra ordered that the area corrupted be sealed off from the rest of the country, to keep the spread within and innocent citizens out. Military camps were built around the area and slowly walls are being built with them.

Now, in present day, Queen Micra has grown old and become weary from fending off power hungry nobles and boring suitors. Astral is repairing and progressing slowly, but their horizon looks darker still.

789 M.E (Middle Era)

Astral Civil War, Owhary's Wrath War and High Elven War