Astrophikus - Ashetnur and Tanatsanu

Ashetnur

“The Empire of Immortals”

Patron God: Etah, the Golden Traveller

Emperor: Hath Hamanid the Divine

Capitol: Khoshet

Population: human, tiefling and genasai in equal numbers, with a smaller percentage of lizard men, devas, minotaurs, gnolls, elves and dragonborn.

   Ashetnur is ancient, even more so than Vulmeadea, and its historians claim the oldest civilizations of Ashetnur go back 5,000 years. The immortal god-kings and queens of this empire are given to a sacred magical elixir that sustains their life for centuries, or even longer, until at last their mortal husk can no longer sustain their souls and they ascend to the Astral Sea, where they become gods. The local religion worships Etah as the greatest of these spirits, and that the tradition of ascencion to immortality was taught to the kings of Ashetnur by the Golden Traveller.

   Ashetnur is located in a vast desert, a cold and dry location of the world with only a few life-sustaining rivers and large lakes. As such, its people are hardy and sometimes fatalistic, with a strong caste system in place. Despite this, Ashetnur is a strong center of history and scholarship, with vast libraries dedicated to the study and recording of local and planar history.

   Ahsetnur is also weak in orichalcum. Most of its trade comes from the planar gates, which are easier to maintain over time, unlike spelljammers, which eventually exhaust the magic potential of the orichalcum. Because of this, Ashetnur has many good available found normally on the planes, and a population of greater diversity, including a large number of tieflings, genasai and even devas.

Tanantsanu

“The Fey Kingdom”

Patron God: Kothe

Emperor: Yndradda the Eternal

Capitol: Ethylios

Population: eladrin high elves only, with some subjugated races

   The Eladrin (high elves) of Astrophikus have dwelt on this world since before the arrival of the Astrophikan immigrants, and they are an ancient kingdom steeped in mysterious traditions, ancient cults and their strong tether to the Feywild. Few Eladrin cities seem terribly impressive on Astrophikus, until you enter and discover their dual existence in both this reality and that of the Feywild.

   The eladrin as a race are haughty and exhibit barely restrained contempt for most lesser races, including their close elvish kin. They despise the drow, and seek to eradicate these chaos worshipper whenever possible. Eladrin, though holding only a nominal territory in the north, are considered a potent force due to their much larger presence in the feywild.

   Tanantsanu has a strong alliance with Vulmeadea, but cool relations with Ashetnur. They are perpetually at war with the barbarian kingdoms of Nordavar, and the city state of Hanacal, which is deep in the mountainous territory they consider their own. The corrupted city fo Hanacal was founded centuries ago by a cult of followers to the mad prophet Koldragas, who still lives today, and claims to channel the dreaming voice of Sulziddaran himself. Indeed, the entire city is populated by disparate followers from all over the world, who have been seduced by the promise of power chaos offers.