Friday, October 31, 2014

13th Age: The Men of Kadamar - Rhadamanthos

The entrance to the Daltosarian Tomb, the burial ground of the old Crusader Krigon who fell in battle during the reign of the Kaziaak, Empress of Radamanthos.
The World of Men: Radamanthos

Humanity rules over a great continent, driven by the ancient Dragon Empire of Radamanthos. Radamanthos is ruled by the Emperor Sonn’Khuul himself, a near immortal personage who seems to be almost an Elder Lord unto himself by some, for Sonn’Khuul is nearly a century old but does not look a day over forty. His near-immortalty is ascribed to a folk legend about his early days as a knight-prince in service to his father, when he journeyed to the Feywild and drank the ambrosia of the gods with Tiraenis herself. This imbued him with unnaturally long and healthy life as well as making him stronger and wiser than most men. His unchallenged rule has served well for a century now, though many forget that the first fifty years of the empire was won through blood and tears. When the Army of the Burning Sun threw its lot in with Radamanthos everything changed, and the empire consumed all of the kingdoms around it until it was a vast, monolithic empire containing all civilized lands save for the reclusive Hiramash of the empty lands, and the barbarian kingdoms of Sudirak and Ghoval.

Radamanthos encompasses a region that was once the dominion of over a dozen separate kingdoms, and it was like this for centuries; over the last three centuries these kingdoms have been gradually conquered and assimilated, with the last four falling under the reign of Sonn’Khuul. The world today is a great empire with fifteen provinces defining the old kingdoms. The kingdoms, now client states, still operate largely independent in their own regions, but answer to regional governors appointed by the emperor who utilize one each of the fifteen divisions of the Imperial Army to enforce their rule.

The twelve great cities of Khadamar:

Bastion – throne of the empire of Radamanthos

Thorn – the city of the Deep Wood

Pinna – the mountain enclave of the draconians

Noctem – the southern city along the cost of the Ashen Sea where the distant Sudiraki rule

Sidereus – the capitol of the high elves

Manis – the ruinous city along the edge of the Great Chasm where even the empire holds no sway

Infernum  – the fortress city of the Orc Queen

Incendium  – the desert city of the Chamarinthians to the deep south

Aurora – the city of philosophy, second largest city of the Empire

Tenebris – the drow city of shadows and seat  of Unseelie power

World’s End – the city of the machine culture, edge of the world and dominion of The Shadow.

Cradle – the heart of the empire, great city of man and fabled birthplace of humanity


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