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The western kingdom of the southern four and eventual final winner of a long string of wars unifying most of the continent under its rule. While the culture of the empire was a combination of the four southern nations, the extremely Lawful tendencies of Visteria was of course a primary contributor especially after unification where it seems certain powers latched on to the empire and twisted it. It was an extremely stable empire, but at the cost of much repression and very little growth. The original kingdom had the best navy and remains home to most shipbuilding. (Telerurin might protest “best”) Known as a trading nation it is the breadbasket of the south and the economic powerhouse of the continent and at the beginning was a fairly light-handed overlord of the newly formed empire. Visteria grows a lot of grain and the best tea on the continent.

The Empire is known for fairly strong xenophobia. Humans and Halflings are well received, Elves and Dwarves tolerated well, but “greenskins” and “beastfolk” are not. Wars with the Strix were particularly vicious. Magic is also highly controlled. Learned magic is well respected and practitioners are referred to as Holy Jishu or Learned Jishu, but natural spellcasters (like sorcerers or oracles) are only acceptable in the imperial bloodline, other bloodlines frequently referred to as “Kesh” (thief of power or thief of mantle). Of course most people aren’t exactly experts and most sorcerers in the empire will claim imperial bloodline or call themselves “wizard” regardless of the actual source of their magic. Clerics are required to be of the accepted gods, though the list is fairly forgiving there. (everyone loves having a healer nearby) Two languages exist across most of the continent, High Visterian which is the original language spoken in Visteria used for official records, and advanced education. Then the Trade Language or low language, which is a pidgin of the other two most common languages and some bastardized elements of the old Visterian language. (in game terms the trade language is “common” and High Visterian only available to imperial functionaries and other appropriate backgrounds)