Editing Journey of the Strange (section)

=The World of Espial=
'''The World of Espial'''

Depending on who you ask, Espial has been in existence for anywhere from 1,000 to a million years. These estimates are largely based on religious and folk history texts, however, and most scientists agree they are hardly accurate. Whatever the truth behind its origins, the following facts are generally accepted in the Old World:

The pre-eminent race is humanity. It makes up the vast majority of most major civilizations, and it has spread far and wide. It is perhaps not the oldest race, a claim made by some drakes, but it is omnipresent. The heart of human society is largely found in and around the continent of Peregrine, a region that is known to colonists as the Old World.

The Heral Imperiate is perhaps the largest nation in the Old World, with its power concentrated in the western reaches of Peregrine. Their empire grew from a band of raiding horsemen (the Heral) who swept away all resistance in centuries past and took over a number of less warlike nations. They eventually settled and their major cities became centers of culture and learning, spreading notions of art, literature, and enlightenment to the rest of the world. They also continued to spread their military and trade influence to the outer edges of Peregrine. The Imperiate's latest acquisition were the islands that became the home to the Trader League. Weakened by dwindling resources and wars against the Mari Imperium and Pherencia, however, they lost control of the islands to a revolutionary band of merchants and landowners.

The Mari Imperium has been in place for almost 200 years. It was once in control of most of the Middle Sea (as the Mari Republic, then the Marian Successor Alliance), but now exists on the Southern coast...though its Empire expanded south so much that it now controls more land and subjects than it ever did in the Middle Sea. The Mari, pragmatic as ever, condsider it part of the the great cycle of Mari. Mari the woman was a queen in the ancient days who led her tribe to victory, conquest, unification and, eventually, the alliance of the people who bear her name. She founded the Marout, or Way, a spritual philosophy that has a hundred sects in the modern day but is also the official religion of the Imperium. It acknowldeges gods as local manifestations of the Divine All given much greater power and understanding than mortals and questions not why the god of the sun is a woman in another place. In religion as in politics, the Mari are pragmatic. The Imperium is vast and depends on regional governers and colonial allies to keep itself intact. While it has access to huge resources, much of these are, at any one time, being used to supress revolts, arbitrate with warring factions, deal with disaster and banditry or fight wars of expansion or defence.

Pherencia...no idea yet

The Trader League is one of the newest and wealthiest countries of the Old World, largely a result of its strength in trade and naval exploration. Composed of a chain of islands known colloquially as The Hook, with each island being home to a city state. The city states include Adencia, Ebuoru, and Varum. While individual leadership of these city states varies in form and identity, the League is ruled by a Council with representatives from each city state. These representatives tend to be the wealthiest and most powerful merchants and landowners of their respective homes. The League is uniquely poised to have influence on the New World continent of Sojourn.