Celvent
The Kingdom of Celvent is located on Anatolia, across the sea from Fallow. During the Age of Veralith, Celvent's capital was protected from the darkness by the Great Shield of Pelor’s light; and so, acted as a refuge city for the eastern continent.
During the Great World War, Celvent sent aid to those against Fallow, but did not declare war on Fallow itself. Though, Fallow eventually launched an attack on Celvent, the city stood it’s ground against the attack and kept it’s independence. When the war came to an end, Fallow and Celvent came to an alliance with one another.
Though, with the instability dealt to the gods during the war, Celvent seems to be waning in power. It still remains as a beacon of divine light in this world, but people now question the extend of that power.
History
The Tiran Era
Long ago, before the Age of Verelith, the kingdom Celvent was a ruled by a religious monarchy called the Tiran monarch. The monarchy pledged itself to the worship of Saint Cuthbert, and so it strictly enforced the religion’s beliefs throughout the kingdom, but especially so in the capital city. This bred a culture of conservatism and any deviation from the norm was met with harsh retribution. At this time, relations with the neighboring Taranuhl nation of Renon was tense at best. Celvent saw Renon as too chaotic to be a good willed nation, and racism was strong in the population. It was very much to the royal family’s shock and disapproval when the heir to the throne, prince Darkaloth, fell in love with lord of Renon’s daughter, the hero Kaiya. Like the story of Romeo and Juliet, the two planned to marry and end the bad relations between their countries forever. But their plan did not come true, for the Tiran monarch wouldn’t see to it. When prince Darkaloth set out to Renon to claim his bride, he was followed by his own brother, Loroloth, and a small elite army. In the dead of night, Loroloth attacked the capital city of Renon, completely sacking it and burning it to the ground. Darkaloth was killed in the sacking, making Loroloth the new heir to the Tiran throne. Loroloth returned to Celvent, saying that it was the royal family of Renon that had assassinated Darkaloth, and that he had burned the city to the ground to avenge his brother. Loroloth was made king 2 months later when his father mysteriously died. He ruled with more of an iron fist then his father did and it was known as a bad time for the people of Celvent. 1 year after Loroloth was made king, he was overthrown by a favored soul of Pelor named Azeria. She hailed from the small village of Laketown and left the kingdom, due to it’s strict enforcement of Saint Cuthbert worship. She had adventured all over the world before returning to the Celventian kingdom and beginning a movement against the Tiran monarchy. With the help of the rebelling poor of Celvent and the hero Kaiya; Azeria took the throne of Celvent from the Tiran monarch. Under the rule of Queen Azeria, Celvent was guided under the principles of Pelor. Tolerance and Compassion were taught instead of conservatism and retribution. The poverty spread by Loroloth vanished and Celvent started to become the benevolent power it is today.
The Pelorian Era
As time passed, Queen Azeria married. Her husband was Light King Lucien. Not much is known of his nature or history, so their meeting is somewhat of a mystery. Queen Azeria continued to run the government even after marrying King Lucien. Shortly after their marriage, the couple had a child, Princess Anala. The King and Queen say she was a direct gift from Pelor himself and that he gave them the child with the prophecy that she would one day save the city from darkness. When Verelith blacked out the sun, it was Anala that ultimately protected the city. Shades invaded the city and the Celventian army could do little against them. Anala and her knight, Xanor, made their way through the shades, to the grand temple of Pelor. Anala entered the inner sanctum to pray while Xanor and a group of clerics held off the shades. It is said that Xanor was the last standing and single handedly held off the shades long enough for Anala sent her prayer to Pelor. Her prayer was answered at the cost of her own life. A beacon of light erupted from the ground of the city, shielding it in divine light and killing any shades that stepped on the ground of Celvent. It came to be known as “The Great Shield”. For the 30 years that Verelith reigned, Celvent remained untouched thanks to Anala and Xanor’s sacrifice. Though the Queen took her daughter’s death especially hard, the King could do little to comfort her and she soon took ill from her grief and passed on as well. King Lucien was left even more grief stricken and solely in charge of Celvent. King Lucien proved to be a fit leader in the face of such hard times. He opened Celvent’s gates so that outsiders could find refuge from the darkness and eventually helped in the battle against Verelith, by joining the alliance against him. After Verelith was defeated, the light shield around Celvent slowly faded and the many refugees returned to their homes. With the light returned, Celvent came to a golden age of power.
The Great War 1,000 years later, the Great World War took place. In that time, King Lucien had become the immortal ruler of Celvent and some even say he has reincarnated as Pelor himself. In the beginning stages of the war, Lucien gave refuge to the traitors of Fallow and sent the cleric, Hayden Castletown, to follow them on their journey. He also granted the homeless warforged of the Underclock land in the north to make their own home on the surface. The place eventually became the warforged city known as Epsilon's Landing. Celvent made no other actions against Fallow till the end of the war, though it did attack Fallow’s ally, the evil machine queen Shibboleth. One of the first emergences of Shibboleth's forces took place in the village of Laketown. With the help of the Warforged, Celvent managed to push back the machine queen’s forces for a time, but they eventually overran Laketown. This aggression sparked Fallow to attack Celvent, but Celvent defended itself till the war was abruptly ended by the actions of the Fallowian drow, Sleyvis. At that time, an alliance was made between Fallow and Celvent to deal with the “Great Instability” caused by Sleyvis. The god king Lucien has been left weakened by the instability dealt to the gods and currently, the future of Celvent seems uncertain.
Cities and Settlements
The Capital City of Celvent
LakeTown
Ever'Green Mills
Tarrok Family Village
Government
The government structure of Celvent has always been a religious monarchy, but like that of the Vatican. Currently, the government is run by the God King Lucien, also known as Pelor himself. Celvent’s type of rule is unique in this way, because it is directly run by a god. It is almost utopian in nature, and so no one has ever questioned the rule of a Pelorian monarch. Under King Lucien in government power, is the High Cleric. The High Cleric oversees the daily religious happenings in the city and also details out any decrees given out by King Lucien. The current High Cleric is Uther Bristow. From there, the government hierarchy splits between officials under the High Cleric’s control and officials under the direct control of the king. Under the High Cleric are all the lower religious affiliates, such as regular clerics, acolytes, and monks. Also under the High Cleric is the “Open Hand of Pelor”; this is a government run organization that has been in effect since the recovery from the Tiran Monarch. The “Open Hand of Pelor” is made up of any volunteer, rich or poor, who wishes to improve the domestic life within the whole country of Celvent. They are the ones responsible for the almost non-existent poverty rate in the kingdom. Some of the “Open Hand of Pelor’s” newest tasks have been the reconstruction Laketown and sending aid offers to their new neighbors, the warforged. The officials directly under the king are mostly made up of military and economic officials. All members of the military report and train at the castle grounds and higher ranking members are even invited to live at the Light King’s Castle. The Leaders of the Military are called “Celventian Zealots”. The economic officials also live and work on the castle grounds. They advise both the King and the High Cleric on what actions they should take, concerning money and resources.
Organizations
The Open Hand of Pelor
Under the leadership of High Cleric Bristow is the “Open Hand of Pelor”. This is a government run organization that has been in effect since the recovery from the Tiran Monarch, and has always been overseen by the High Cleric. The “Open Hand of Pelor” is made up of any volunteer, rich or poor, who wishes to improve the domestic life within the whole country of Celvent. During both the time of Verelith and the Great World War, the "Open Hand's" reach spread beyond the Celventian borders to aid the entire world. They are the ones responsible for the almost non-existent poverty rate in the kingdom. Some of the “Open Hand of Pelor’s” newest tasks have been the reconstruction Laketown and sending aid offers to their new neighbors, the warforged.
The Gray Hand
The Gray Hand is the resident thieves and rouges guild in the capital city of Celvent. The formation of the guild dates back to the overthrow of the Tiran monarchy. Long ago it was a Saint Cuthbert's guild of Tiran loyalists that secretly plotted to sabatoge the budding Pelorian monarchy and set the power back into the hands of Saint Cuthbert worshipers. As time went on though, it's leadership was taken over by the Hackseil family; witch changed the guild into a secret haven for rouges and thieves who actually supported the Pelorian monarchy. The guild acts as a unseen protector for the common folk of the Celventian Kingdom. They're known to have a strict code of good morals, such as steal from the rich, give to the poor, never shed innocent blood, and your actions of good should always go completely unnoticed. The government's official stance on the Gray Hand is that they are vigilantes that will be brought to the law when caught doing something illegal, but many notice that those officiated with the guild somehow always seem to escape the grasp of the Law.