This is the first installment of a daily/weekly reveal of Alsahra’s many nations. So I figure I'll start with the insatiable theocratic empire of Deutoria, as it's the largest nation on the continent of Sanghia. Expext more in the days/weeks to come! To see find them, search the tags Tales from Alsahra and Nations of Alsahra. So, without further ado, here we go:
Deutoria: Current Ruler- Supreme Pontiff Lucius XIV
The human supremacist, theocratic empire of Deutoria was founded in the year 669 A.C.[1] by Supreme Pontiff Lucius XI of the Holy Deulic Church and Princess Edna. Being the eldest heir of the late-Torin monarchy, Edna relinquished power to the Church following King Edwyn’s untimely death. After the Supreme Pontiff dissolved the monarchy, he established Deulicism as the national religion and invigorated national pride through perceived exceptionalism. Within a decade, heresy had become treason punishable by either death or forced labor (dependent on the severity of the offence), and the Church’s Divine Legion completely absorbed and grew beyond Torin’s former military.
Fueled by free labor, national and religious pride, and an army of zealots, Deutoria began its expansion. Before Lucius XI died in 709 A.C., his theocracy had already conquered Varah and Ippos, two of the small countries that once lined the north/northeastern coasts of Sanghia. Succeeded in both title and mission, Supreme Pontiff Callixtus III, and each Pontiff that followed, continued the crusade to the point Deutoria became the largest nation in Alsahra. However, for the last one hundred years, the nation’s growth has slowed to a crawl by the Belantiir Desert in the south, the Vuhn’dahar Mountains in the west, and each of their resident nations.
Now, in the year 1069 A.C. and under the rule of Supreme Pontiff Lucius XIV, Deutoria remains the primary superpower on Sanghia, boasting both large, affluent cities and smaller, homely rural towns/communities. Life for a rich human believer is perfect, while life for a poor human/non-human believer is significantly less-so, and the non-believing non-humans are cast out, executed, or forced into slavery.
[1]A.C. denotes the time period after the Great Collapse
