Dear Friends:
Avicia—a kingdom of grand cities, snow-capped peaks, and sweeping alpine valleys—dominates the northern continent. Graceful and self-assured, the roc tribe believes its realm to be the true heart of the Mortal Realms. While its towers gleam and wealth still flows, it has not forgotten its humiliation in the Black Moon War.
Tribal affiliation. Avicia is home of the roc tribe, a people blessed by the Mighty Roc, the god that never revealed its true name. While its gifts of majesty and agile grace are not martial, the Avician roc is a high-flying predator, powerful enough to carry off a cow, that haunts their collective memory.
The Avician people are tall and graceful, with falcon-like wings from snowy white to pale brown, and often shimmering. Unlike the dragon tribe, they are light enough to fly—not just glide—and their war dances feature spectacular dives from high bluffs. Temples to the Mighty Roc are built into sheer cliffs or built upon grand stone pillars—accessible only by air, and only to those of pure Avician blood.
Fitting their aristocratic temperament and distance from other lands, Avicians look down on intermarriage and do so less than any other tribe, though all tribes (especially Tarkans) reside in their bustling ports.
Avicia also holds men and women in near-equal regard; more women hold high stations in Avicia than any other land.
Language. The Avician tongue is elegant, hierarchical, and precise; its phrases carry multiple layers of meaning designed to flatter, rebuke, or command without a raised voice. It even contains separate honorific tones for addressing commoners, nobles, high nobles, and the king, and to use a lower tone is considered a grave insult.
Some root words survive from the distant past, like ”Lubo” meaning “quarreling” or “disharmonious”—the name given to the forlorn lands of the West and an insult to the blustering, even in modern speech.
Other languages are spoken in the ports, but many Avicians will insist that foreigners at least attempt to speak their language.
Geography. As the largest kingdom in the Mortal Realms, Avicia spans a vast and varied land. Frozen tundra and boreal forest in the north, fertile plains, valleys, lush forests through its heart, and a long navigable coastline all along the south. Their combination of natural resources and easy trade routes destined them to prosper.
It has no nearby foes—the other sovereign land of the northern continent, Lubo, dares not test its mettle. Any Lubo who raid an Avician settlement bring harsh retribution.
Its crown jewel is Tercera, the largest and grandest in the Mortal Realms, home to over six hundred thousand. Built into the side of a mountain, it rises in five tiers, each the size of a city in its own right. White stone bridges span the sky, and grand alabaster temples to every god dot the cityscape. The University of Tercera attracts scholars from every corner of the Mortal Realms, where men and women alike can study any art, science, or magic (save nether) known to mortals.
History. Like most realms, Avicia was raised up from fractured tribes after the Scourge, and unified by a single figure, King Theodore the First, ancestor of the current King Theodore. Unlike most realms, Avicia was unified with relatively little war. Recalcitrant tribes were offered diplomacy and trade before conquest, and most willingly submitted to the new king.
While isolated for the first part of its existence, it has allied with Blevenia for some time, to oppose the more brutal realms and temper the ambitions of the south.
But then came the Black Moon War. Bound by alliance, King Theodore joined Blevenia against Solantia—and suffered for it. High General Agni Kazirian had forced Blevenia out of the war before Avicia could muster their army, and were forced to invade the west, where they struggled to gain a foothold.
The crushing blow came when Agni won imperial sanction to cross the Great Sea and invade Avicia, capturing the twin ports of Nearport and Farport, dividing the realm and choking off trade. Agni’s naval counterpart, Admiral Malia, fought the bloodiest battle of the war. Using the autumn gales, aided by his mages, they cut through the lighter Avician forces to Tercera.
But Agni did not seek to starve out Tercera—no army could—instead he threatened the use of nether magic to poison Tercera for generations.
And so, King Theodore surrendered.
Internal climate. Avicia endured, much of its army still intact. But it lost its pride. Within court circles, many wish retribution against Solantia.
But they respect Solantia now—it is no longer a backward, brutal realm. They know it is clever, ambitious, and capable. And that its lords wish further reparations—or retribution—for the war. They watch the Lord Guardian closely, for retribution would come through him.
The winds are always shifting.