Quartz 5

The Holy Theocracy of Olympus

14 min read

History

Somewhere in the Age of Chaos, in the land that would one day be called Clairnia, there arose an order of mages called the Order of the Watchers. They were the first mages to appear since the Collapse, and they spread terror across the kingdom and enslaved its people. At that same time, across the world, the gods began to reveal themselves to mortals, spreading faith in them and granting the magical powers that came with it. About a hundred years later the Order of the Watchers collapsed beneath the revolts of the very citizens it had oppressed, and the land sank into bloody civil wars and chaos that lasted some two hundred years.

In 1510 the Holy Theocracy entered the Thirty Years’ War, known to the world as the War of Horrors. For the first time, Jaknia, Clairnia, and the Lexalian Republic fought on the same side alongside it. Their enemy was the House of Horrors, a band of beings created with the darkest magic for the purpose of war, who had turned their backs on those who made them. Despite the obvious advantage - four nations and their armies against a single small island - the House held off the assaults for thirty years, until it cracked the secret of its own making and began creating new horrors, demon-folk of its own. (According to several sources, the first horrors - both those created and those who died in the process - were prisoners of war.) This drove the nations of the world, many of them beset by heavy internal pressures and losses, to withdraw.

In the end that withdrawal gave way, in the Holy Theocracy, to a change of regime - bloodless, but leading to violence - that raised an extremist party to power under a man named Isandro Íroas. This charismatic leader had served as a senior officer in the army back in the war in which Ma’ar, the first Horror, was created. Witnessing the horrors the great demon wrought, he came to believe that his nation walked a dark path, and that the duty fell to him to set it right. He read and studied, and one conclusion kept rising before his eyes: that free magic - the magic that does not come from the gods - was what led down this road. The Collapse, the Watchers, and now demons in human form had all been its clear product. He began to preach that one must cling to the magic of the gods and shun all other magic, and over the years he gathered a great following; his respected military history and his standing as a paladin and lieutenant-general won him a hearing among commoners, nobles, and ruling parties alike.

When his land went to war against the demons, he bid his followers pray to the gods for guidance on defeating the dark magic gripping the world. For years no answer came: the gods were present as ever, yet unwilling to weigh in where arcane magic was concerned. It was one day near the war’s end, as he stoked a hearth, that the fire suddenly leapt onto his hand and seared into it the words “the gods help those who help themselves,” with the image of an open eye and fire in its pupil. After long nights in libraries and no few sage-consultations he grasped the message, and set out with his most loyal men into the heart of Clairnia. There, in an ancient temple hidden from sight and guarded by magical wardens, he found it - an ancient paladin’s oath, forgotten in the depths of time, which the gods had once given the people of the land to defeat the Order of the Watchers. They carried the oath home, where repeated votes of no confidence forced new elections, and Isandro and his party were chosen to lead the people into a new age. He founded beneath him an innovative fighting order - the Inquisition, a body dedicated to combating magic and those who wield it - and under his leadership the state began, slowly but surely, to move against the magic-users living within it.

Present Day

By 1540 the Holy Theocracy has changed hands one last time. Of all the nations it suffered most in the War of Horrors - much of which was fought on its own soil - and out of that suffering an extreme religious faction rose to power under Isandro Íroas, the Chief Inquisitor. Holding that the magic of the gods is the only magic the world should touch, and blaming arcane casters for the apocalypse sixteen centuries past, the new regime has begun - slowly but surely - to turn against the mages living within its borders.

Geography and Climate

The Theocracy holds the fertile western lands of the old world - a realm of broad plains and a long coastline well suited to its great fleet. Its capital, Kepostheon, sits on an island in a sheltered inner bay, not far from the Great Forest.

Demography

Population

The western land is home to a great variety of peoples, humans foremost among them. Its Twisted Races are the Minotaur, ogres and half-ogres, and the Tengu (an avian folk once called aarakocra). The Centaurs - whom Theocracy law does not count among the Twisted - range across both the west and the center, chiefly in and around the great forest.

Religion

The Theocracy is devoted to the Olympian pantheon - the gods of Olympus, whose high priests sit upon the Council of Priests, and from whose worship alone the state holds magic to be lawful.

OlympianDomains
ZeusTempest
HeraOrder
PoseidonTempest
ApolloLight, Life, Knowledge, Peace
ArtemisLife, Nature, War
AthenaKnowledge, War
AresWar
AphroditeLight
DemeterLife
DionysusLife
HadesDeath, Grave
HephaestusForge
HermesTrickery, War, Peace
Hecate (the moon)Twilight, Arcana
Asclepius (medicine)Peace
PanNature

Languague

Regime

Despite its name, the Theocracy is not a purely top-down religious rulership. It blends direct democracy, regional representation, and religious authority into a single system that seeks balance between the people’s will and the gods’ guidance.

  • Every settlement above a certain size becomes a Polis, a semi-autonomous municipality. Regions are larger areas, usually defined by the central leadership, each containing several Polises and at least one city.
  • Each Polis forms a local council of all citizen men and women aged 25 and above. (Twisted Races are excluded from participation regardless of citizenship; Centaurs and Satyrs are not counted as Twisted Races under Theocracy law.) Local decisions are made directly and democratically by these councils.
  • Polises also vote on regional decisions, with each Polis’s vote weighted so that all the Polises of a region together hold influence equal to the region’s cities - and cities, being larger and wealthier, hold significantly more political power.
  • For nationwide decisions, votes occur between regions, weighted by each region’s number of cities: a region with four cities carries eight votes (four for its cities and four for its Polises), while a region with one city carries two.

Executive leadership - the Rex. The state is headed by a sovereign ruler called the Rex, who wields significant executive power and is supported by two national councils:

  • The Council of Priests, made up of one high priest for each Olympian god.
  • The Council of Citizens, made up of one representative from each region and one from each city.

Every twelve years the two councils choose a new Rex: the Council of Priests proposes candidates who have earned the gods’ favour, and the Council of Citizens elects the Rex from among them. Once elected, the Rex typically forms a governing party of key ministers who rule alongside them - the Minister of the Army, the Minister of Food, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Mining, and the Minister of Trade - while still passing legislation through the two councils, with the most crucial matters going through the nationwide decision process.

Law

Laws Regarding Magic

The Steel Reins came into force at the start of 1541. They are meant to restrict and monitor magical activity that is not sanctioned by the gods. Under them:

  1. Any spellcaster who does not draw their power from the gods - whether through deep study, a magical affinity, or other magical circumstance - must be registered as such, together with a concise list of every spell they can cast, including spells they carry and magic items they hold (subject to the general limits of Article 6).
  2. To enter cities and cross the state’s borders, magic-holders must present a licensed-caster certificate, issued wherever it is demanded alongside registration. The caster must also wear an arm-band identifying them and the permissions granted to them.
    1. The arm-band must be worn at all times while the caster is within the Theocracy’s borders - not only at border crossings and city gates.
  3. Those who received their magic through a pact with an external, non-divine entity are outlaws, and will be tried for their crimes.
  4. Spellcasters as defined above require special approval to serve in public bodies (the army, the guard, bureaucratic posts), and are subject to special oversight while they do.
  5. Beyond the universally known list of forbidden spells, any spell falling under Necromancy, Enchantment, or Illusion is forbidden; without explicit approval from an authorized body - granted only under the strictest limits, for cases of undeniable necessity for clear military or religious purposes - their use and possession are severe crimes against the state and the gods.
    1. Special permits for animal communication are granted as needed to hunters’ aides, herding aides, clergy, satyrs, and centaurs.
    2. Further possession permits are granted for historical preservation to authorized organizations only, under an organizational quota limiting how many members may hold such magic.
    3. Special research permits are granted as needed, with the approval of the Council of Citizens.
  6. The purchase and possession of spellcasting materials are limited and strictly registered.
    1. A person may own no more than a single item defined as a spell focus.
    2. A person may not hold, on their body or among their effects, more than three items of any magical potential not deriving directly from the gifts of the gods.
  7. A spellcaster as defined in this law may not hold senior bureaucratic office, nor sit on the Council of Citizens.
  8. A creature that is a changeling requires special treatment; the law regards it as a spellcaster who frequently casts illusion magic. Accordingly, every changeling is bound by the following:
    1. Registration as a changeling, and the carrying of identifying papers.
    2. Wearing an arm-band identifying them as a shapeshifter at all times.
    3. Choosing a single fixed form to keep to for life, documented in their papers and with the law.
    4. Pledging before the law and the gods to use their powers only for minor cosmetic changes to that agreed form.
  9. The sale, creation, and possession of magic items are permitted only under strict oversight and a predefined quota of authorized parties.
    1. Every item sold requires a sale certificate in triplicate - one each for seller, buyer, and the supervising authority.
    2. The purchase of a magic item is subject to a background check and the supervising authority’s approval.
    3. Both the creation and the crafting of a magic item are licensed work, whose renewal and oversight rest with the supervising authority.
    4. Magic items that replicate effects defined under Article 5 or 8 fall under the same limits described there.

Foreign Affairs

The Theocracy’s foreign relations are anchored by two standing treaties:

  • The Bread and Steel Compact (with the Lexalian Republic) - one of the oldest and most vital treaties of the modern era, and the bedrock of an otherwise frosty relationship between two former enemies. The Theocracy guarantees an annual tonnage of grain, olives, and preserved fish at a fixed, preferential rate, shielding the Republic from famine; in exchange it receives a special charter to buy iron and higher metals - with only a capped share permitted for military use, the bulk going to religious artifacts, temple adornment, and infrastructure. The Republic also sends skilled metalworkers to teach advanced steel-making, and both sides pledge non-interference in each other’s governance and faith.
  • The Sky-Sea Pact (with Clairnia’s House Terra) - House Terra lends the Theocracy’s fleet trained griffons and riders as naval scouts, while the Theocracy grants Clairnia’s House Cartos favourable rates and priority access to its shipyards.

Economy

The Theocracy’s economy is a theocratic command-mercantilism - a hybrid of a command economy, where the state (through the Rex and the ministries of Food, Mining, and Trade) directs key sectors, and mercantilism, aimed at national self-sufficiency, stability, and the accumulation of wealth to project divine favour and power. The democratic Polises allow a degree of local market freedom for small-scale crafts and goods, but major economic direction is set from the top down, guided by religious and national priorities. The core strategy is stability and divine order: great emphasis is placed on food security to forestall unrest, and economic activity is channelled to support the state, the religious orders, and the army.

Key sectors:

  • Agriculture & aquaculture - vast fertile plains yield staple crops, wine (for trade and sacrament), and livestock, while a strong focus on harvesting food from the sea gives rise to a distinctive blended cuisine.
  • Mining & masonry - a culture of grand temples drives the mining of marble, granite, and limestone, alongside gold, silver, and mithril for religious artifacts and coin.
  • Artisanal crafts - temple-sponsored artisans produce religious icons, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, and blessed items.
  • Aquatic power - one of the strongest and most versatile fleets in the world, well versed in every kind of ocean affair.

Main exports: grain, olive, and wine surpluses (a barrel of aged Theocratic wine is a status symbol abroad); aquatic foods and sea produce (fish, mollusks, algae, pearls, coral); high-quality marble and precious metals; blessed artifacts and religious paraphernalia; fine textiles and tapestries with religious motifs; and ships - though only models less reliable than their own fleet.

Main imports: advanced technology (enchanted items, constructs, and tools from Jaknia); exotic and rare materials (magical components, rare woods, and spices); and master-crafted weaponry (elite arms and armor from the Lexalian Republic and Jaknia for their champion warriors).

Armed Forces

Important People

Isandro Íroas - the leader. Isandro was a paladin of devotion for years, but with the outbreak of the War of Horrors he changed course and grew radical in his views on magic. He had clear political ambitions even before the war - from a young age he wished to shape his nation’s course - and over his distinguished military career he befriended many powerful figures across the various Councils. Marked early as a potential Rex, he rose swiftly through the ranks with many hands helping him along.

The War of Horrors brought the moment when he founded his own ruling party, with clear views and an approach fundamentally different from the existing regime. He did not believe in defeating the House of Horrors directly - a conviction that only hardened as the war dragged on. He believed instead in “descending in order to rise”: withdrawing from the war and letting the House of Horrors settle, while keeping it in check through small focused strikes, espionage, and economic pressure. This was indeed the course he took on rising to power - though in reality the withdrawal was agonizingly slow, taking eight years, amid political complications with neighboring states, civil war at home, and surprising resistance from the House of Horrors, including “the Breaking of the Gates,” as outsiders named the counter-attack that revealed the House’s ability to manufacture horrors.

Isandro was lawfully elected, but met the bitter opposition of the rival party, which brands him a fascist and accuses him of stealing the election. Though the accusations have no basis, they inflame the supporters of the old party and the opponents of his radical reforms, who take up militant resistance against the regime in an eight-year span known as “the War of the Hills.” This internal war, alongside the war against the horrors, delays Isandro’s reforms and leaves him hungry for the changes he wished to instill. His first act on taking power was to found the Magic Inquisition - a militant body meant to fight mages and monsters, built around small combat units modeled on the demon-hunters - which gave him a power base as it began to win renown and lend the Theocratic army a special tactical edge.

Cities and Such

Cities

Towns

Villages

Geographical Locations

Points of Interest

Points of Interest

Culture

Relationship With Magic

Olympus

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