Zenis (Sorcerer War Era) - A Combination of Several Old Files

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Zenis (Island continent in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, colonies in Greece, Egypt and Central America).  A nation where the Gods and Angels live on Earth.  Humans are allowed but most be born in Zenis or live such a moral lifestyle that they would be accepted into Heaven if they were to die.  Most humans are expected to live in the cities of Romonos (Seat of the House of Kamun) or Porsus.  They may also live in the north eastern farms.  Certain humans who live in the direct services of the Gods live in the capital - Armenos, sometimes a human who marries and angel is let in as well, but
each of these are exceptionally rare.

Humans are expected to live an exceptional life, either in the direct service of the gods or serving the House of Kamun (and thus indirectly serving the Gods.).  This class structure was seen as the ideal system for keeping internal peace at the time (though the gods saw the error much later, after the Age of Zenis ended) While Augustin has decreed that humans are to be thought of as being equal to the angels, many angels and even a few of the gods tend to look down on the humans especially now that the Sorcerer War has started.

Zenis has become largely isolationist since the Sorcerer War has begun.  Magical barriers have been placed around the continent to keep anyone from getting in by conventional or magical means.  The only interaction they have with the outside world is through the colonies and to send soldiers to fight the Sorcerers.

Family Structure: Monogamous, men and women are viewed as equal.  Certain higher families such as the House of Kamun and its branch families are allowed to have concubines (male or female), but the rules are strict, and it is rarely allowed.  Relationships between the gods and humans or angels are forbidden.  Angel and human marriages are allowed but rare.

 

Timeline

(Z.Y.= Zenis Year)

9000 b.c/1 ZY Gods raise Zenis from under the sea

10 ZY Angels come to Zenis.  Begin building the city of Armenos, City of Gold

15 ZY Armenos finished.  Augustin comes to the city and takes the crown of Zenis.

50 ZY plants and animals unique to Heaven are brought to Zenis.

300 ZY Forest of Draugorn is fully grown

500 ZY Courts of Honorus to judge the worthiness of Humans are established.  The first Humans begin coming to Zenis.

550 ZY Angels teach the knowledge of Heaven to the Humans of Zenis

600 ZY Humans begin mining the mines of Mormenus and discover metals nowhere else available on Earth.

700 ZY Humans build their own city of Romonos to be near the mines.

900 ZY Honorus makes his prophecy of the world's first evil.  Augustin decrees Angels to teach Humans how to forge weapons.

950 ZY A group of Humans and Angels decide to go back to nature and go to live in Draugorn Forest.

1000 ZY Beginning of 'The Holy Bounty' The height of Zenis' power and glory.  Humans reach new heights of Science Art and Philosophy which will not be regained for a long time.

1100 ZY Humans make petition to Augustin to go out to other parts of the world to teach the rest of humanity.

1125 ZY Augustin grants approval to limited numbers of Humans and teach them shipbuilding.

1150 ZY Port built in Romonos for sailing to the Western Hemisphere and other Humans move to the east coast and begin building the eastern port city of Porsus.

1200 ZY Porsus is finished.  The first ships leave Zenis

1201 ZY Humans of Zenis meet meet other Humans for the first time in seven hundred years.

1220 ZY Zenian ports built in Egypt, Greece, China and Central America.  Teaching of the knowledge of Heaven begins

1300 ZY To prevent ambition amongst Zenians outside of Zenis Augustin appoints 'Governors' to watch over territories under Zenian influence and teaching.

1500 ZY Development of nations outside of Zenis controlled areas.

2000 ZY Maxim comes to Zenis and begins teaching magic to Humans.

2500 ZY First signs of the end of 'The Holy Bounty' as Humans begin to seek power over other Humans

2600 ZY Powerful sorcerers begin secretly leaving Zenis and begin forming cults in areas not under Zenian influence.

2800 ZY The sorcerer cults feeling powerful enough attack the Zenian colonies.  Begining of 'The Sorceror War'

2900 ZY Much of the world is in ruin, Augustin musters an army from Heaven.  The Gods, Angels and most powerful of Human sorcerers march against the cults.

2950 ZY Urbanus leading a group of Angels into the South American rain forest against the Archmage Zorn.  Urbanus kills Zorn but in the argument they had just before fighting Zorn puts the seeds of Urbanus' later evil into his heart.

3000 ZY Battle of Buruzun.  The decisive battle of the Sorcerers War.  The Armies of Heaven led by Cicero crush the cults.

3000 ZY-4000 ZY The healing of the world.  The surviving evil sorcerers are killed and banished to Hell.  The teaching of Magic becomes forbidden except to those to those who have been personally approved by Augustin himself.

4000 ZY The healing period ends.  Augustin orders the isolation of Zenis.  Limited contact remains with Zenian colonies.

6000 ZY Augustin allows the end of the period of isolation.  It is the end of of a long period of scientific advancement in Zenis. Bringing the Human cities to a level that is still yet to return.  Tensions begin to build between the people of the cities and the forest.

6500 ZY Human scientists go secretly into the forbidden sciences of nuclear power and the attempt to find the key to immortality.

7000 ZY Second prophecy of Honorus, foretelling the coming of the end of Zenis.

7050 ZY Maxim and Ryouseiku prepare for the of Zenis.  Sending small numbers of teachers of magic and science out with approval of Augustin.

7500 ZY More colonies are established in new places in the world.

8000 ZY Seeing the end on it's way Augustin makes Governorships hereditary.  Thus establishing the idea of 'The divine right of kings.'

8500 ZY Human scientists discover the secrets of nuclear weapons.

8550 ZY Tensions between the Humans and Augustin grow over the mortality of Humans.  And that the Humans forgot who taught them everything they knew.

8600 ZY Augustin discovers the Humans nuclear weapons.  It leads to a tense standoff between Humans and the Gods as Augustin doesn't want to see such horrible damage done to the Earth.

8700 ZY Armenos is fortified, the ferry is closed.  Angels begin returning to Heaven disgusted with Humans.

8800 ZY Humans occupy the Shrine of the Holy Father.  An unforgivable sin to the Gods. Leading to war in Zenis for the first time.

9000 ZY Humans even with the power received from living in Zenis and the magic and other teachings of the Gods finally begin loosing ground.  They set off all the nuclear weapons, Zenis is ruined, turned into a wasteland.  The Gods decide they will no longer live on Earth chosen Humans who are still good are Evacuated and spread throughout the colonies to help teach Humans out there.  The Angels and Gods return to Heaven after sinking what is left of Zenis beneath the sea where it came from.

List of Sorcerer Cults:

Cult of Zorn - South American Raiforest

Cult of Khant - E Asia

Cult of Solus - S Asian islands

Cult of Silimas - Planes of North America

Cult of Akas - N Africa (except Egypt)

Additional Cult of Zorn Info:

Tests to come into the cult:

1.  'Moral test'.  Judge the personality of the new member
2.  Spiritual Cleansing test.  Meditation for a long period, must defeat inner demons from within the subconscious without help.
3.  Oath of loyalty

Magic training begins.  Novice spells taught.  Mage in training is given a partner and sponsor from the inner circle of mages to get him or her through the rest of the training.

Intermediate spells taught.  First test of power begins.  The mage and his or her sponsor must go into Hell and the Novice tests his magic against demons.   The sponsor must not interfere except to get the novice out if he or she is in danger of death.

If the novice wins he or she is given their new mage name and training continues.

 

Expert training, last level of training unless the mage is chosen for the inner circle.  Upon finishing this step the final test begins.  A one on one duel with an inner circle mage other than their sponsor.  If the Novice wins he or she is accepted into the cult and given a personal mark of membership.

If the mage is deemed especially powerful or worthwhile the Archmage (Cult leader) gives the mage one last level of training and gains all spells of the order.  A duel with the Magus (Second in command of the order) is held if the Mage wins he or she is accepted into the inner circle.

To become Archmage the Mage must be in the inner circle then challenge him or her for the position, it can be a duel to the death.  If the Mage wins he or she becomes the Archmage.  Each Archmage chooses their own Magus personally from the Inner circle.

This is the list of titles of cult members

Archmage (Leader)

Magus (Second in Command)

Sorcerer (All Inner Circle members other than the Archmage and Magus.  I haven't decided how many of these there are yet but there aren't very many.)

Mage (Everyone who has completed all of their training and accepted into the cult but haven't been accepted into the Inner Circle)

Acolyte (A mage-in-training)

 

God(ess) Cults:

This of course only applies in the Sorcerer War era.  Some may be developed further with time.

Augustin: Knights of Heaven: the army of Zenis; consists of an extremely complex rank and formality structure.

Aisuka:  Maidens of Zenis:  Only available to women (Human or Angel).  They must swear a life of Virginity.  They train to become housekeepers for wealthy families or the Gods.  Such maidens often raise children in these families in place of the parents.

Maxim: Sorcerers of Zenis: Only magic users in the kingdom other than the Gods.  They devote their lives to experimentation and now aiding in the war against their rebel brothers and sisters.

Cicero: The Armenos Officer Corps: Semi-independent from the Knights of Heaven, they tend to stay behind in Zenis to help plan strategy and train new soldiers.

Honorato: The Eye of Fate: Oracles, and keepers of the Library of Zenis.  Many records which tell the history and future of the world until the end of time are kept.  They swear their lives not to speak of what are in these records without permission.

Salmoneus:  Court of Zenis:  The Judges of Zenis.  They judge all accused of committing a crime within Zenis or its colonies.  There is no jury, and only Salmoneus or Augustin can overturn their decisions.

Junae:  Children of the Earth: Those who live mostly in the Forest of Draugorn and live a life as close to nature as possible.  Only minimal rules of society are kept.

Maura:  The Sea-Walkers:  They spend most of their lives on their ships.  They are the ‘Navy’ of Zenis.  They also supply and move people between Zenis and the Colonies.

Ryouseiku:  the Truemen: Philosophical society of Zenis.  They always look for ways to improve life on Zenis.  They are the ones who will speak to the Sorcerer Cults if an official message is to be sent to them.

Ambiguity: A nameless anarchist cult: They seek to bring down Zenis from the inside, and to open conflict with the Sorcerers.  She seems to operate on a strange set of rules though, holding back certain actions sometimes at random.

Urbanus:  The Silver Fist: An angel only Special Forces group also semi-independent of the Knights of Augustin.  These Angels are taught a limited amount of magic by Maxim as well.

Davos:  The Keepers: watchers of the sun and stars.  Also keep lit the magic sources that power many of the other objects throughout Zenis.

Estia:  Soul of Zenis: keepers of the Temples of Zenis, and judges of morality for those joining the Magic Academy, or Knights of Augustin.

Pardus:  The Naturists: manipulate the weather of Zenis.  They work to keep the plants growing, and prevent severe weather.

Marcian:  The Guild: Train those going into manufacturing.  They keep the secrets of forging magic objects, especially weapons as well.

Nadina:  Nameless as well: A society of youth and rebellion, though not nearly as far as Ambiguities.  They do the regular things a youth would do to rebel against society.  Despite being the 'virgin goddess', the nature of her cult almost demands her disciples not follow her example.

 

Independent* Nations at the Time of the Sorcerer War:

* (Independent in that they are free of direct control by Zenis, but by this period they are dominated in various degrees by the Sorcerer Cults).

Lukuna (Japan, South/Central Asian islands, Hawaii Australia and New Zealand):  A strong naval, trade based empire.  Its navy is the strongest in the world (only because Zenis doesn’t bother to keep a navy).  It is the dominate power of the Eastern Hemisphere.  It is one of the most tolerant and open societies.

Family structure: Monogamous, matriarchal.

Akor-Ka (Central Asia, Eastern Europe.  Borders several Zenisian colonies):  A tribal warrior society, they are nomadic and always on the move.  They control a few large cities, but these are populated entirely by slaves and a small elite group of warriors left behind to watch them.  The sole purpose of these cities is to produce weapons and other material goods for the tribe.  They have always been hostile towards Zenis, constantly warring with the colonies.

Family structure: Polygamous, a man may have as many wives as he wants, but they are considered equal and are at least supposed to be respected.

Uropa (Central and Southern Europe):  A Federation of semi-independent cities, semi-democratic in that in each city elects a representative to the Lords Assembly which has limited authority over the entire Federation.  However only the wealthy, elite classes can vote, this is one of the most infiltrated nations in that the leaders of most elite families have joined a Sorcerer Cult, married a Cult member or have a child in one of the Cults.

Family structure:  Monogamous, patriarchal.

Nakuba (Coastline of N. America, both east and west, connected in the south but leaves most of the interior unclaimed):  A society of Priests and Mystics who worship nearly everything and see the Gods of Zenis as just a small piece of the larger picture.  They spend most of their lives looking inside for the deeper answers.  Many lords and wealthy families especially those distant from Zenisian Colonies hire them as spiritual advisors
and prophets.  They have a large missionary class that wanders the world to preach their message.

Family structure:  They do not know marriage, most Nakubans men and women find child raising and marriage a waste of time, and hurts their development.  A small group of women choose to take the path of enlightenment through child birth and raising, with the higher purpose of the nation’s survival.  They go among the men until they become pregnant then after giving birth they raise the child among themselves then go out
again until there are too many children to have more for a time.

City State of Buruzun (South American Rainforest):  While most Sorcerers are content to live in the background, either hiding in the wilderness or infiltrating other nations the Cult of Zorn took the bold step to create their own city, populated with few exceptions entirely by the Cult of Zorn.  It was built on a cleared area within the rain forest, built of countless towers, pyramids and other structures that climb high into the sky.   Other than ambassadors no permanent residents from other cults or nations are allowed.  Joining and swearing loyalty to the cults is required for anyone else to stay for more than a short time.

The Sorcerers are conducting dangerous scientific and magical experiments, nuclear science, the roots of later Necromancy and artificial Angels.  Necromancy in fact originated as part of the plan to create artificial Angels  The theory was that one needed to die and be revived before they reached the Gods in order to be revived as an Angel, and while they have had partial success creating ‘Angels’ but all of these have turned out insane so far.

Family structure:  ‘Communal’ every adult cult member is considered married to all adults of the opposite gender.

Crasus (most of Africa, excluding desert, including of course the Zenis colony in Egypt):  First nation other than Zenis, built upon a tribal system and centered in the birthplace of Humanity.  Over time the tribal system evolved into a caste system, each tribe became a different caste whose members have specific roles within society.  Marriage outside one’s caste and promotion to a higher caste is forbidden.  The most elite caste are
seen as semi-divine and claim to be children of the Zenisian Gods.  Zenis continues to deny this but the people are too brainwashed to accept this.  Over centuries of stagnation rivals within the high caste are becoming corrupt and hostile towards one another.   They are in danger of fragmenting into many small pieces and civil war.

Family structure:  Varies by caste, low castes are monogamous while higher castes may marry several spouses.