Characters / Equestria At War Zebrica

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Northeastern Zebrica

Shared Tropes

• Civil War: By game start, Hindia (not counting Uusi Hirvimaa) is divided into four independent states: the Doelhi Confederation and Barasingha ruled by native Hindians and the Yarildoms of Chital and Sambar ruled by an elite descended from Olenian immigrants, with Chital capable of flipping to native rule. When the Hindian Wars erupt, they will form two rival blocs, the pro-Olenian Deerlaw Restorationists and the pro-Hindian All-Hindian National Bloc. After one side is defeated, the other bloc will also collapse and its members start fighting each other until only one is left.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Hindia is culturally based on South Asia.
• Foreign Ruling Class: The Yarildoms of Chital and Sambar are ruled by an Oleno-Hindian elite descended from the commanders and disgraced nobles who took the great voyage from Olenia to carve out their own fiefdoms amongst the fractured Hindian kingdoms. The Doelhi Confederation and Barasingha, the two native Hindian-ruled states, despise Chital and Sambar for being dirty settlers.
• I Can Rule Alone: After the Deerlaw Restorationists or All-Hindian National Bloc defeats the other side in the Hindian Wars, the victorious alliance's members will declare war on each other until Hindia is unified under one.

Protectorate of Uusi Hirvimaa

Full Name: Protectorate of Uusi Hirvimaa

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

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Captain Henrique Lampeão

Role: Head of State

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

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Yarildom of Chital

^{Flag of the Chitali Confederation}

^{Flag of the Chitali Raj}

^{Flag of the Kingdom of Hindia/Hindian Confederacy}

^{Flag of the Hindian Raj}

Full Name: Yarildom of Chital, Chitali Confederation (monarchy abolished), Chitali Raj (Bhushan), Kingdom of Hindia (Hindian unification), Hindian Confederacy (Hindian unification, monarchy abolished), Hindian Raj (Bhushan Hindian unification), Þrumðiland (Kratocratic Jakob Hindian unification)

Ruling Party: Council of Seven - Traditionalist Faction

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

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• Corrupt Politician: Many Chitali nobles prefer to live their decadent lifestyles using embezzled funds than actually use them for their intended purpose.
• The Coup: If the Axis of Chital is influential enough when Chital's initial focus tree is finished, they'll remove Yaril Benjen from power by putting him under house arrest and announcing to the public that he's dead.
• Decadent Court: The Council of Seven, consisting of Benjen V, three native and three Olenian nobles, is a world of courtly intrigue, one the Yaril cannot navigate without significant sacrifice.
• One-Steve Limit: Benjen Davirtannen, a member of the Council of Seven and champion of reformism, is often confused with the Yarils he is named after. To distinguish him with Benjen V Kudlinen, the game refers to Davirtannen by his family name and the Yaril as Benjen V.

Benjen V

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Council of Seven - Traditionalist Faction, Council of Seven - Crown Faction (Reformist)

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned (initially), Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony (actual)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 6th of June, 975 in Ostkranbi

Biography: They say that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, and that cannot be more true for Benjen V Kudlinen, Yaril of Chital and staunch reformist, beset on all sides by scheming nobles, traitorous former allies, and heartless revolutionaries. Benjen V was never a warrior like the old Sea-Kings of the continent, raiders who ravaged the Eastern seaboard of Zebrica and subjugated the native deer under their rule from Sambar to Doelhi. Born in Ostkranbi, the capital of Chital, to Benjen IV Kudlinen, Benjen would be trained in stewardship from a young age. An intelligent and soft-spoken young deer, he was quick to make friends with numerous noble fawns and even the older deer at court, and was consistently applauded by his father, even if he was not exactly the most diligent of deer. Even when his father died in 998, and his brother, Aatto, became Yaril of Chital, Benjen remained gregarious and ready to take up the mantle of chief advisor to his brother. The Yaril's life, however, would soon come crashing down. Aatto died in 1001 pacifying native rebels, and Benjen was forced to carry on the torch of the Kudlinen Dynasty. His chief advisors annuled his engagement to his fiancé, a commondeer, and Benjen was left ruling over a Yarildom that condemned him as a fat steward and doe-ish coward - "The Kind Viking". Slowly replacing Aatto's advisors with his own old friends, Benjen's reign culminated in the establishment of the Council of Seven in 1003 - meant to serve as a united advisory council of both Hindian and Olenian nobles, all originally loyal to the Yaril. Unfortunately, his opposition on the council began to resent him, and three of his greatest adversaries on it formed the Axis of Chital, to curtail what they believed to be his blatant abuses of power and failure to bring reform to Chital.

With the Council becoming more and more hostile, it seems Benjen will need to act fast if he wants to ensure the survival of Chital - and his dynasty.

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• Arranged Marriage: Benjen V can only officially marry his lowborn girlfriend Ruusu if he either gets overthrown by the Axis of Chital or takes the Harmonic path. Otherwise, he'll have to choose a more politically suitable wife: if Jakob Kudlinen is Chief Minister, the options are Eva Pillai, Jakob's daughter Brienna, or his right-hoof general Pensha Rashanth; while if Eva Pillai is Chief Minister, she'll arrange herself to be the new Yarila. That being said, in the latter case, Eva assures Ruusu that she'll only 'borrow' Benjen for the odd public appearance, and nothing more.
• Assassin Outclassin': After Chital's initial focus tree is finished, when taking a tour throughout the south, Benjen V is targeted by an assassin hired by the Axis of Chital, if their influence is less than 50%. The attempt succeeds if the Axis of Chital's tension is more than 50%; otherwise, the assassin will be spotted and fail to land a fatal hit, or (if Eva Pillai is the most influential member of the Council of Seven) be apprehended before he could do anything.
• Colourful Theme Naming: Benjen V's War Plans against nearby Supremacist countries are named White and Black (Colthage), Crimson (Gryphus), Blue (Austurland) and Purple (Barrad).
• Death Faked for You: If Benjen is overthrown by the Axis of Chital's coup, they officially announce that he was kidnapped and killed by far-right, reactionary generals. In truth, he's smuggled to the Katiava coast by Ivar Hoversholm and kept under guard.
• Embarrassing Nickname: The Yaril is mockingly known as the Kind Viking, a fat steward and doeish coward.
• The Good King: In his radical reformist path, Benjen becomes known as the Prince of Harmony, a figure to look up to, a serene and peaceful monarch who will unify all deer of Hindia.
• Internal Reformist: Benjen V is an opponent of Chitali traditionalism, and seeks to reform the country towards liberty, justice and loyalty.
• Kissing Cousins: One of Benjen V's potential wives, should his uncle Jakob become Chief Minister of Chital, is his own cousin (Jakob's younger daughter) Brienna.
• Puppet King: In Jakob Kudlinen's Supremacist route, he enacts a policy limiting the Yaril's powers and investing them in himself as the Diwan. In Raili Ninessen's path, she tries to get Benjen to sign a document handing over all real power to her.

Jakob Kudlinen

Role: Field Marshal, Chief of Army, Head of State

Party: House of Kudlinen

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned (Non-Aligned route), Kratocracy^note Supremacy (Supremacist route)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 8th of July, 943 in Kanelimpra

Biography: Jakob "the Grey" Kudlinen - younger brother of Benjen IV, gracious and loyal uncle of Benjen V and his brother Aatto, and now, the most powerful deer in Chital. Born two years after the heir to the throne, Benjen IV Kudlinen, Jakob the Grey has always been second-in-consideration - for Yaril of Chital, for chief of Chital's great Viking navy and army, and then, for Chief Minister with the establishment of Council of Seven. While his brother sought to bring fire and blood into the lands of the natives and the glories of the industrial revolution into the lands of Chital, Jakob was right beside him, with an exemplary education in Macawia's top naval academies. A fierce raider before the practice was eventually discouraged by the internationalist Benjen IV, Jakob soon became a war hero to the people of Chital as he fought the influence of Macawian pirates and upstart Hindian revolutionaries through the reign of three Yarils. Now, however, life for Jakob is much different. A military deer at heart, he has found himself in the upper echelons of government, whispering into the ear of Benjen V and promoting a return to the traditions that made Chital great at every turn. A loyalist to Benjen IV, Jakob has never kept his clear resistance to the Yaril's reformist views silent, and with the aid of extremist military elements, his new base of power, he has become the most prominent right-wing royalist in all of Chital. If he can balance his far-right general staff and the hostility of an increasingly rebellious Yaril toward the traditionalists, Jakob will not only be enshrined in Chital's futures as a war hero, but as the greatest statesdeer to grace the nation.

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• Conscription: According to Jakob, the youth do not know of the trials and tribulations of their forefathers; they have known peace and prosperty, but not of the cost it took to reach it, and thus must be taught discipline by mandatory year-long conscription.
• Dead Guy Junior: In Jakob's Non-Aligned path, just before his death, Benjen names his newborn son and heir after him.
• Defiant to the End: When Bhushan Gurat purges the Olenian nobility after taking over Chital, Jakob refuses to go down quietly and is already bleeding heavily and missing an antler when he's finally subjugated and brought to Bhushan, yet his eyes hold nothing but hatred and determination. When Bhushan slits Jakob's throat, Jakob spits blood on Bhushan's face, his eyes holding the Raja's to the last.
• Evil Reactionary: Jakob, a traditionalist Viking raider before the practice was discouraged, has long disliked Yaril Benjen's reformist views. In his Non-Aligned path, he simply tries to mould Benjen into a Sea-King himself; in his Supremacist path, he assumes near-absolute power to turn the clock back by centuries, creating a Viking raider state in an equivalent of the 20th century.
• Offered the Crown: After Chital takes over Llambet while Benjen is still Yaril, Jakob can be given the throne of the Yarildom of Llambet if he did not become Chief Minister of Chital.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: If Hira Ramachan seizes power, she gets rid of Jakob by making him the Chitali ambassador to Olenia, a 'war-torn hellhole constantly on the brink of collapse' (and indeed in most games it won't take long until the Changelings conquer Olenia).
• Viking Funeral: When Jakob dies (except in Bhushan's path), he is given a traditional Olenian burial at sea, his body being put on a boat which is left to drift out of the harbour and then set on fire.
• Warrior Prince: Jakob the Grey is both the younger brother of Yaril Benjen IV and chief of staff of Chital's Viking armed forces.

Eva Pillai

Role: Chief Minister^note Head of Government

Party: Council of Seven - Traditionalist Faction

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 13th of June, 974 in Gondeerana

Biography: Eva Pillai, more than any other deer, is the archetype of the new generation of Chitali leadership that has risen to prominence under Benjen V and his Council of Seven. The daughter of the rich Thane of Gondeerana, a classical Oleno-Hindian nobledeer, and his native Hindian wife, Eva was raised in with a diverse environment unseen in much of Chital's elite, an environment that allowed her to become a beloved heir to the throne among natives and settlers both. Follwing graduation from the premier university of Chital's southern regions, Eva soon took control of the court of her father, transforming the dreary Thane's hall into a vibrant blend of two cultures, a cosmopolitan sanctuary that brought caravans and tourists a plenty to view the Southern Jewel's transformation. When her father went to war to fight for Yaril Aatto, Eva remained as a de-facto regent, and began to take over the economic matters of the city as well. Her university-trained business expertise and a flood of Equestrian and Macawian advisors brought unprecedented growth to Gondeerana as market outreach and investment soared. When her father was eventually killed in the same doomed assault that brought an end to Yaril Aatto's reign, Eva, only Lady of Gondeerana in her own right for a few days, was immediately invited to Benjen V's new council, and from then on, has continued to serve as a stalwart defender of cultural unity, cosmopolitan ideals, and unbridled capitalism.

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• Arranged Marriage: While Eva has always hoped to marry for love, she'll be forced to leave her partner behind to marry Yaril Benjen V if she becomes Chief Minister. While neither Benjen, Eva nor their partners are happy about this, they understand that Chital needs this marriage to bring together the deer and start to heal the old divisions.
• Child of Two Worlds: The daughter of the Thane of Gondeerana, a classical Oleno-Hindian nobledeer, and his native Hindian wife, Eva was raised in a diverse environment unseen in much of Chital's elite, allowing her to become a beloved heir among natives and settlers alike.
• False Flag Operation: Arranges an incident at sea to provoke a war with Macawia.

Benjen Davirtannen

Role: Chief Minister^note Head of Government

Party: Benjen Loyalists

Ideology: Democratic Monarchism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 17th of February, 955 in Prauma

Biography: If you have ever heard of Benjen Davirtannen (a difficult feat, as he is completely vacant from the public sphere and oft-confused with the Yarils he is named for), you would know him as one of the most important civil servants and advisors in Chital in the last century. He built the Benjen IV Industrial Bureau and brought social reform and modernization during the Great Struggle in Hindia, preventing revolution in the South, penned lucrative contracts with Equestrian conglomerates and Griffonian trade companies that saw wealth flow into Chital's coastal hubs and Gondeerana at the meeting of the rivers. Suave, personable, and empathetic, those who know the old deer have only praise to lay at his hooves, and his workers know some of the finest conditions this side of the globe. One of the leaders of the Reformist movement, his position in politics was well-entrenched during the rule of Benjen IV, Aatto and Benjen V, even striking up a personal friendship with Ivar Hoversholm, another well-known reformist. Now as Chief Minister of a system long since in the making, slow measured progress is being made on the path to harmony, to modernization. To a liberal order controlled not by the bully pulpit of demagogues or by some faux-democratic despot deriving its power from the cycles of sun and moon, but by calm, reasonable, and considerate bureaucrats. The Chital that has been created is far different from that of before, yet Davirtannen reminds the same as he has always been. Forever loyal to the Yaril, and forever ready to take as many slow steps as needed to bring painstakingly measured reform and intellectual governance to Chital and Hindia.

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• Boring, but Practical: While he lacks the zealous conviction of Ninessen or the utopian vision of Hoversholm, his careful and calculated reforms don't require the drastic and often authoritarian measures the other two harmonists use. He is sometimes referred to as "the most boring deer in Chital".
• Internal Reformist: While he opposes the radical notions of the Axis, he still wants change in Chital, and works closely with the Yaril to democratize the government.

Raili Ninessen

Role: Chief Minister^note Head of Government

Party: Benjen Loyalists

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 9th of September, 979 in Ensuu

Biography: Sometimes, harmony just isn't harmonic. Bridges are burned, friendships are broken, and disunity lies palpable in the air; all occurances Raili Ninessen is all too familiar with. What use do words have against threats so existential to the very stability of harmony they seek to shatter its fabric entirely? As one cannot tolerate intolerance, the harmonic cannot tolerate the unharmonic. When Raili Ninessen first arrived at the Ostkranbi court, she was shunned as a traitor to the Olenian order, a dissident and a troublemaker, but above all, an activist dedicated to the fall of the monarchy in Chital. Ninessen's first papers and orations demonstrated limited appeal for Equestrianism, especially if it involved the replacement of a traditionalist Olenian monarchy with some new, diverse dynasty.

Dismayed at her lack of support and the possibility of treason charges, Ninessen departed for Equestria, where she learned and studied the princesses' response to the rise of Chrysalis and return of Nightmare Moon. The strength of harmonic action and dedication of the ponies to their ideals bolstered Ninessen's own fervor, and the second time she arrived at court, her mannerisms were much more ruthless.

With the death of Yarils Benjen IV and Aatto, Ninessen found Benjen V a willing ear for harmonic ideals, and a promising candidate for the role of an Equestrianist prince. With the support of the court's firebrand reformists, Ninessen's faction at court superseded Ivar Hoversholm's as the main power on the left... much ire surrounds the doe and her band, ruthless in their criticism and driven in their pursuit of radical harmony, but one thing is certain: she is winning.

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• Foreign Culture Fetish: Ninessen is obsessed with everything about Equestria, from their government to their cider, and should she take power in Chital, she takes extreme measures to mimic them.
• The Purge: In the first few weeks after her appointment as Chief Minister, Ninessen fires countless old ministers, advisors and bureaucrats, anydeer being deemed unharmonic losing their jobs no matter how small. In their place comes her own progressive allies as well as ponies from Equestria, who have hitherto never been seen in the Chitali court.

Ivar Hoversholm

Role: Head of State

Party: Hoversholm's Axis

Ideology: Harmonic Socialism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 29th of July, 966 in Hamaholm

Biography: Has there ever been a deer as great, as visionary, as wholly noble in his pursuit for justice, prosperity, and popular will as Ivar Hoversholm? And yet, has there even been a deer so ignobly cast down, so forced to stoop to the level of those traitors and vipers who surround him?. Born in Hamaholm in the Thanedom of Valdeland to a caring noble family, Ivar Hoversholm was considered a gifted child from birth - a fact that would propel him into the politics of the nation's capital. Ivar and his father, Elik, became voices of reformism and the rule of law on then Yaril Benjen IV's council, and when Elik resigned his courtly duties out of old age in 1000, Ivar became even more influential in the coastal nation's court. Close friendships with industrialist Benjen Davirtannen and then heir to throne Benjen Kudlinen made Ivar a prime candidate for a spot on the Yaril's advisory council, which would eventually become the Council of Seven in 1003. However, with the establishment of the Council of Seven, came Ivar's undoing. Hoversholm, ever the opportunist, saw in the Council the instrument of true reformism, and in a midnight coup, demanded Benjen grant him the long-vacant post of Chief Minister and leadership of the body. Benjen, astonished by what he believed to be a blatant power-grab, expelled Hoversholm from his inner circle and shattered his political influence. Hoversholm, convinced of a conspiracy against him, privately denounced the monarchy, and found safety in the Axis of Chital - more reactionary than the Yaril, but as a road to power in Chital, second to none. Now, Hoversholm's reliance on the Axis as the instrument of his vengeance against Benjen has succeeded, but whether Hoversholm's reforms can succeed is another tale entirely.

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• Frame-Up: If he manages to hold on to power after the Axis of Chital's coup, during which he kidnapped and smuggled Yaril Benjen V to a remote estate on the Katiava coast, Ivar accuses Jakob Kudlinen of murdering Benjen and has him hanged.
• I Did What I Had to Do: During the Axis of Chital's coup, Ivar privately feels sorry for having to put his old friend Benjen V under house arrest, but sees what he did as necessary for Chital's survival.

Hira Ramachan

Role: Political Advisor, Head of State

Party: Ramachan's Axis

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned, Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony, Surveillance State^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 22nd of November, 976 in Haarihus

Biography: Too many in Chital are born with blue blood and the blessing of Ukko, with not a connection in their life to the plight of those at the bottom. The same cannot be said for Hira Ramachan. Plucked from obscurity and relative poverty, Hira first rose to prominence in the south following the appointment of her father, Jheri, as Mayor of Haarihus during Aatto's great pacification of the southern lords. From then, she was sent to Ostkranbi to plead for further priveleges for the destitute natives and former thralls of her father's lowly seat, in the process catching the eye of then Kronprins Benjen Kudlinen. When Aatto died, Benjen V then found a sure ally in the young noble, who remained out of the ancient traditionalist clique of rulers Aatto surrounded himself with.

Hira, however, soon became much more than just a puppet spymistress. Her missions to root out traitors in the South saw her make covert allies in resistance movements while on the other hoof declaring to Benjen that they were all "sorted out", and her missions to discover secrets among the court led her to uncover a disturbing amount of information on each and every of Benjen V's Council of Seven - Benjen, of course, received barely any of it.

Now, Hira continues scheming as the leader of the Axis of Chital, and with a united alliance of Southern upstarts, disgraced nobles, charmed bureaucrats, and true populists, the young spymistress has now fully consolidated her hold over the nation. Whether she shall forge a society of equity and tolerance or simply reverse the roles of power is unknown, but the choices are all hers to make.

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• Playing Both Sides: Is secretly the Shadow of Chital, the entity responsible for funding the local communist movement.
• The Spymaster: Hira has served as the court's de facto spymistress for years. None can doubt her prowess and skill at finding secrets, even if sometimes they had better be kept under wraps.

Bhushan Gurat

Role: Chief of Army, Head of State

Party: Gurat's Axis

Ideology: Authoritarian Theocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 2nd of June, 971 in Mahorna

Biography: Normally, an aristocrat who promotes open disobidience to an established rule of law is purged, killed, or otherwise removed from office within days. Bhushan Gurat, through either a reputation of incompetence, status as a useful extremist, or a reputation as such a barbaric force of will that many are too scared to even challenge him, has remained an open opponent of House Kudlinen for a decade since the young native first inherited the seat of Mahorna. A firebrand religious populist, Bhushan the Brash, as he is called, is one of the most extreme politicans in Chital, but yet commands a sizable and extremely devoted movement - the Tuya, "Faithful" in the native Chitali language. A militarist religious order of Mahimata, the mother goddess of the Hindians, the Tuya have fought against the Olenian pantheon ever since Bhushan first took command of a once-weak organization of squabbling theologians which bore that name.

Perhaps the most powerful Southern noble in Chital, Gurat was appointed to the Council of Seven as a voice to appease his subjects in Mahorna, part of the vast native Hindian population, who he soon became a key voice of. Brash and bumbling, many view Bhushan as nothing more than a charlatan playing with fire and dreams greater than his own, but little, if any, doubt his convictions - his fanatic Chitali patriotism, his love for his people - and his desire to make the heavenly mother come to Ostkranbi, whatever the cost in blood may be.

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• Church Militant: Bhushan has turned the Tuya, a once-weak group of squabbling theologians, into a military order that worships Mahimata, the mother goddess of the Hindians, and fights against the Olenian pantheon.
• Fantastic Racism: Even setting aside his regular racism against other kinds of deer, Bhushan's path concludes in an invasion of Kiria, because he sees kirins as dark demons who need to be gotten rid of in order to ensure the safety of deerkind.
  Bhushan Gurat: There lies in that land creatures which seek our ruin. They are the worst form of deception; they tempt and lure in the unsuspecting before consuming them with dark demonic fire and devouring the ashes which remain, feasting upon the very soul of their victims. Do you grasp my words brethren? They would destroy everything we hold dear and rip us from the embrace of the Goddess to send us crashing and burning down through whatever pain they might yet be capable of engendering until we are not even ash. The Olenian demons might have corrupted some of our deer but the Kirin, they would destroy us utterly. To protect ourselves we must draw the sword first.
• The Fundamentalist: Bhushan's Chitali Raj is perhaps the darkest incarnation of Chital, embracing the worst of religious frenzy and combining it with ugly racism and militarism.
• Maligned Mixed Marriage: Bhushan cracks down on miscegenation, believing that the Hindian deer must be pure-blooded; any drop of Olenian blood leads to the devilish Pantheon of Ukko and his kin.
• The Usurper: After having Yaril Benjen V assassinated, Bhushan Gurat declares himself Great Raja Bhushan II.

Yarildom of Sambar

Full Name: Yarildom of Sambar

Ruling Party: Manfred Regency

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

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Herra Manfred Vanistö

Role: Head of State

Party: Manfred Regency

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Only one and a half years after the end of the Summer Revolution, the rule of Manfred Vanistö threatens to send Sambar into civil war once more. The "Iron Regent", as he is called, has hung on to power through a combination of treachery, intimidation, and bloodlust, and has refused to allow the young Yaril of Sambar to inherit at any costs, despite the deer already of an age to succeed the throne as is his right. Nobles and monarchists stand outraged that the regent will not give up even an inch of his power to the rightful ruler of the country, while an increasingly discontent agrarian population plots another revolution in the shadows, and continues to harass noble holdings across the country, reject conscription, and demand the restoration of a true people's ruler, selected among the ranks of the native Hindians.

The road ahead is treacherous, but with the power of the navy and the settlers behind him, a ship to Olenia might not be in order for the Iron Regent after all.

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• Human Sacrifice: Manfred's inner circle is alleged to commit blood sacrifices to secure the aid of the gods.
• Red Baron: The sheer brutality of Vanistö in his quest to eradicate native rebellion has earned him the nickname Iron Regent, a hero among the Olenian settlers that saw their towns ravaged by the Summer Revolution, but scarce beloved by any.
• Regent for Life: Vanistö took power after the direct patrilineal line of the Yarils of Sambar was extinguished in the 1005 rebellion, and has refused to crown a new Yaril since then.

Doelhi Confederation

Full Name: Doelhi Confederation

Ruling Party: Princely Federation of Doelhi - Maharaja's Faction

Ideology: Democratic Monarchism^note Harmony

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• The Federation: Southern Hindia is a confederation under the princely rule of Doelhi.

Rucerva

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Princely Federation of Doelhi - Maharaja's Faction

Ideology: Democratic Monarchism^note Harmony

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Stagpal

Full Name: Stagpal

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Stagpal, a country located high in the mountains between Hindia and Llambet and inhabited by both deer and llamas, is based on Nepal.

Mahaan Ghanusson

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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Llambet

Full Name: Llambet

Ideology: Socialist Monarchism^note Communism

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• Culture Chop Suey: Llambet, a monarcho-socialist theocracy ruled by a Sapa Llama located on a vast elevated plateau, combines elements from Tibet and the Inca Empire.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: When Colthage was devastated by the Storm King, Llambet seized the opportunity to take over Kar-Alpaka, its easternmost region. Colthage (or Coltva, if it manages to secure independence or autonomy) will usually declare war on Llambet should the latter refuses to return Kar-Alpaka to the former.

Sapa Llama

Role: Head of State

Ideology: Socialist Monarchism^note Communism

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Eastern Zebrica

Realm of Kiria

^{Flag of the Realm of Kiria (Non-Aligned)}

^{Flag of the Empire of Kiria}

Full Name: Vermilion Realm of Kiria, Empire of Kiria

Ruling Party: Autumn Blaze's Clique

Ideology: Irenic Theocracy^note Harmony

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• Aesop Amnesia: Zig-zagged. The nirik state is treated as a dangerous temptation for all kirin who give in to their negative emotions, akin to the seductive allure of the Dark Side of the Force, with a dangerous stratocratic country to the south and multiple factions within Kiria during a failstate embracing it as part of their damnation. In the episode that inspired their content, Autumn Blaze's willingness to experience anger also meant that she could control it rather than being controlled by it, and use it constructively to help people; An Aesop about just trying to suppress feelings instead of learning to healthily manage them. But it's worth noting that no one in the episode is trapped permanently in the nirik state like these cases, that the kirin tech tree includes ways to weaponize the nirik state without totally losing it, and that in-story punishments that assume the nirik state is something a kirin can never escape are held to be wrong, relics of a backwards past that need to be reformed for the good of everykirin.
• Allowed Internal War: If the tensions between the Sycee Trading House and the All-Kiria Artificers' Guild escalate into full-on corporate warfare, the ExecCo preemptively vetoes any attempts by the state to intervene, citing Article 12 of the Imperial Code, according to which the state must not interfere in intercorporate affairs without the consent of all the corporate parties involved.
• Balkanize Me: After all the civil wars end, Kiria can end up divided into anything from two to eighteen pieces:
  • While the NAKP will always try to secede when the Grand Gallop Onward fails, it's possible for them to declare nominal loyalty to Vermilion if the Rising Fire also rebels, turning North Kiria into either an independent ally or viceroyalty of Kiria proper after the Rising Fire is put down.
  • When Revolutionary Fragrance rebels against an evil Rising Sun, they can decide that Kiria proper is too formidable of a foe, and negotiate with Rising Sun for independence of either Fragrance or North Kiria. If Revolutionary Fragrance wins the second civil war, one option is to declare the Kirian Second Republic, a confederation so decentralised that it's represented in-game as an alliance of up to 18 countries (which, except for Fragrance itself, all have different in-game subideologies).
  • Like Revolutionary Fragrance, the New Standard Army has the choice to settle for the secession of South Kiria as a republic independent of the Realm of Kiria, instead of taking over the whole country.
• Civil War: If stability drops too low during the Grand Gallop Onward, the plan crashes and burns as Kiria falls into civil war. Initially, the National Association of Kirin Patriots and optionally the Rising Fire will rebel against Vermilion, with the possibility for another rebellion if the initial victor is not the Triumvirate: the Children of Concord (against Fickle Current), the New Standard Army (against Winter Frost) or Revolutionary Fragrance (against an evil Rising Sun). It's also possible for the War of the Northern Succession to escalate from a two-way to a five-way civil war if the Triumvirate collapses and its members turn into nirik warlords (which also causes the Pirates of Nacre to splinter into its own side); or, after the NAKP's victory, for the Sycee Trading House and the All-Kiria Artificers' Guild to descend into a full-fledged war, seceding from the Empire in all but name and cutting Vermilion off from its western territories.
• Clockwork Creature: During the Sunrise Rebellion, the artificers of Sunrise built clockwork soldiers, which were captured intact after their defeat and buried in a hidden cave. Ember Wane believes that the clockworks may be reactivated using modern technology.
• Historical In-Joke: Imperial Premier Autumn Blaze's Grand Gallop Onward, which seeks to quickly bring the hopelessly backwards Kiria to the modern world, is based on the Great Leap Forward, with even more potential for disastrous consequences should it fail.
• Land of One City:
  • Imperial Premier Winter Frost can decide to grant independence to the Open Coastal City of Hyacinth, a city-state with its own legislative assembly and constitution, as a cordon sanitaire to keep ideologies like harmony, progressivism and democracy out of the rest of Kiria.
  • One option for Revolutionary Fragrance after their rebellion is to negotiate with Rising Sun for the independence of Fragrance as a city-state.
• Medieval Stasis: Since the Silence began a century ago, the Realm of Kiria has completely stagnated culturally, socially and scientifically. Science, religion, philosophy and many other forms of education were prohibited, leaving much of the populace illiterate. When the Silence is lifted, Imperial Premier Autumn Blaze must make up for one hundred years of lost progress in just three and a half.
• Secret Police: The Banner of the Covered Cage is Kiria's obscurely infamous secret police who once enforced the edicts of the Silence. They behaved like a crime syndicate that would sack towns that tried to reorganise their own societies during the Silence. After the Silence is lifted, Rain Shine has to make the difficult choice of whether to acknowledge their actions, and if so how to reveal them to the populace.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Various interest groups have their own vision for Kiria in mind, and it's not always easy to convince them to put their differences aside in the Plenum. A central part of Kiria's starting gameplay is balancing these different interests and maintaining stability across the Realm.
• The Theocracy: Kiria is a theocracy governed by a Matriarch Superior imbued with Concord's divinity, affording her absolute authority on all matters both spiritual and temporal. Efforts are being made at the start of the story to devolve the Matriarch's political powers to a secular and democratic government while leaving her as a spiritual head, turning it into a thoroughly constitutional theocracy.

Rain Shine

Role: Matriarch Superior^note Head of State

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• Cincinnatus: After the success of the Great Gallop Forward, Rain Shine permanently vests prerogative and authority to the Plenum, the Premier and the Morning Secretariat, binding herself and all future Matriarchs by the Constitution of the Realm of Kiria and putting an end to centuries of rule by decree from Vermilion. In gameplay terms, the Matriarch Superior and the Premier switch places, with Autumn Blaze becoming the in-game head of state and Rain Shine becoming a national spirit.
• Large and in Charge: The Matriarch Superior's ascension ritual increases her size, making her twice as big as the average kirin.
• Long-Lived: The Matriarch Superior is blessed with a lifespan twice as long as the average kirin's.
• Puppet King: Due to her status as Concord's avatar in this mortal dimension, the NAKP keeps Rain Shine around as a figurehead after winning the civil war and assuming all other duties to run Kiria in her name.

Autumn Blaze

Ideology: Democratic Matriarchism^note Harmony

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• Apocalyptic Log: After Autumn Blaze turns into a nirik as a result of the Triumvirate's collapse, her diary is found and smuggled to Fickle Current (the only civil war contender who remains sane), and describes her descent into madness in vivid detail:
  I don't know how much longer I can keep myself in control. I'm just so mad! But what's the point in trying to stay sane anymore? The Realm's already ruined! Fluttershy, Applejack, Rain Shine, I'm sorry, but I won't be seeing you again, not as the kirin you know, but as a monster...
  No Autumn just don't
  Don't what
  Just so
  so
  mad
  why did they do this why did they ruin kiria
  WHY
  RAIN SHINE WHY DID YOU PICK ME
• Contempt Crossfire: Downplayed. Every single one of the other major political leaders of Kiria likes Autumn Blaze on a personal level, but only Rain Shine also respects her. The rest see her as well-intentioned, but hopelessly naive and inexperienced, to say nothing of how each of them also openly desires her position as head of the government. And because Autumn Blaze is trying to take the country in a more democractic and less authoritarian direction, this puts her in the unenviable position of having to constantly mediate between two or three other people who all hate each other rather than just autocratically demanding her will be done. While Autumn Blaze does enjoy broad political support among the people at the start of the story, it's up to the player and/or the dice whether or not she'll lose that too, and with it her position as Imperial Premier.
• Locked Away in a Monastery: After being kicked out of politics by the Serene Tendency and the Radiant Hierocracy, Autumn Blaze is sent to a monastery, where she is going to live out the rest of her days quietly reflecting on her failures.
• Naïve Newcomer: Reconstructed. Even though Autumn Blaze has literally no political experience, she's still the best leader for Kiria; all the others have tons of baggage and questionable intentions even at their best, and a major factor in the Three and a Half Year Plan's potential for failure is their direct or indirect sabotage for the sake of their personal ambitions.

Winter Frost

Ideology: Theocracy^note Non-Aligned

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• The Coup: After the Rising Fire's rebellion is put down, Winter Frost will launch a coup against Autumn Blaze, seizing her Premiership and turning Kiria down a reactionary direction.
• Evil Reactionary: At the start of the story, Winter Frost is not a real example. While she is easily the most reactionary of the major party leaders, she does accept that Kiria does need to make some changes to move forward into the modern era, and her general stubborn and backwards opinions are tempered by occasional demonstrations of concern for both the natural world and the everyday kirin progress may not help immediately as much as by her love of a bygone time she wants to sustain as much as possible. She even has a modest Heel Realization if the Great Gallop Onwards succeeds and admits to Autumn Blaze that she was wrong. But in the only scenario where she seizes power (the Great Gallop Onwards failing and leading to a three-way civil war that ends in Vermilion's victory), Winter Frost has been hardened by the conflict and plays the trope straight to the horrifying letter, couping poor Autumn Blaze and trying to lead the nation into withdrawal and stagnation, potentially resulting in a new revolution to depose her.
• Family Extermination: For their crimes in supporting the NAKP's secession, Winter Frost exacts justice on the Bloom, Mallow and Snow clans by exterminating them to the last.
• The Fundamentalist: Winter Frost works to bring Kiria back to its roots of firm faith and unyielding devotion to Concord and the Way of Fire. She's the main opponent of the separation of church and state, views Fickle Current and his ilk as foreigners who have been born and raised without Concord's guidance and should not be allowed to dictate the future of kirin society, and constantly butts heads with the Rising Fire, a rival sect whom she regards as heretics.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Winter Frost believes that a priestess of the Way of Fire could not go against the decisions of her Matriarch, no matter how much they irked her. When Rain Shine signs the declaration that surrenders her absolute authority (with which Winter Frost personally disagrees), she tries hard to hide her scowl and directs her ire toward Fickle Current and his cronies instead.

Rising Sun

Role: First Priestess^note Head of State (Kirian Civil War, Republic of Kiria)

Party: Rising Fire

Ideology: Religious Socialism^note Communism, Military Government^note Non-Aligned (flee to Taungpau), Authoritarian Theocracy^note Supremacy (Supreme Matriarch)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Not much is known about the mare who calls herself Rising Sun, and what is known paints only a vague picture at best. By her own admission, Rising Sun was born in Chrysanthemum and studied to become a priestess in the Way of Fire, as such a lifestyle was the only way to escape the utter stagnation of The Silence while it still held Kiria in its stranglehold. But even as a priestess of The Way of Fire, the mare was often regarded by her peers as too smart for her own good and twice as cunning as the most mischievous fox. She would regularly debate her senior priests about the merits and drawbacks of strictly adhering to the Matriarch Superior's decrees when all they brought about was suffering and ruin for the people of Kiria, and was regularly chastised for it. For the mare who was too smart by half for the lifestyle she had chosen, Rising Sun had reached a frustrating theological dead end to the problems surrounding Kiria.

Realizing that she would never advance as a priestess in The Way of Fire, Rising Sun salled down the Mellifluve where she ultimately ended up in Verdant at the age of 20. Once there, she quickly realized that Verdant was prospering where Chrysanthemum languished. The Silence was still in full swing over the city, but the many island communities of Verdant had formed their own cooperative communes that worked together to the benefit of all without breaking any of the Matriarch's decrees. Additionally, there was no rigid religious structure that dominate the everyday lives of the kirin in the city, only an individual communion between the average kirin and Concord, with spiritual leaders to aid their followers alang toward their own revelations. Rising Sun quickly immersed herself in these bellets, and in no time at all, had risen to the top of this new sect of The Way of Fire. Naming her sect the Rising Fire, Rising Sun would return to Chrysanthemum to spread her new teachings to the kirin of the west. and made many visits to towns and workshops around Kiria before ultimately ending up in Vermilion as the Grand Gallop Onward progressed to bring her teachings to a new level of national awareness.

Now, Rising Sun finds herself on top of the Realm's food chain, in a position of almost unlimited authority and power. The Rising Fire has risen with her as well, and her beliefs are ready to be shared across the Realm. The Rising Fire is grappling with The Way of Fire, and Rising Sun will be the one to bring about a new era of theology and change to Kiria, one it never could have imagined before.

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• Cult of Personality: Kindling Flash describes the literacy campaign undergone by the Rising Fire as little more than a glorified celebration of the 'infallible heroes' of the war, most especially Rising Sun. They're depicted as practically godly figures, infallible and incapable of doing wrong.
• Full-Circle Revolution: Choosing too many 'evil' options in the eight Hundred Days campaigns after overthrowing the Vermilion government will result in Rising Sun betraying her own movement and revolution and turning herself into a new theocratic absolute monarch.
• Invading Refugees: Rising Sun is not one to take defeat lightly. If the Republic of Kiria starts losing the civil war, she can order a Long March westwards, invading Taungpau and setting up a military occupation, in the hopes that the Rising Fire can one day return to liberate Kiria.
• Large and in Charge: After proclaiming herself Supreme Matriarch, Rising Sun undergoes the ascension ritual that also causes her to grow to double her previous size, as it did to every Matriarch Superior before her.
• Turbulent Priest: Rising Sun is the Chief Priestess of the Rising Fire, a religious movement centred around the notion that all creatures are equal before Concord, and that Kiria cannot hold tightly to the old ways of faith. When the Rising Fire rebels against Autumn Blaze's government, Rising Sun reaffirms her and the Rising Fire's loyalty to Concord and Matriarch Superior Rain Shine, and proclaims that she must be rescued from her corrupt, heretical jailors in Vermilion.
• The Usurper: An evil Rising Sun will proclaim herself Supreme Matriarch of the Great Realm of the Kirin and delve into the secrets of the old Matriarchs Superior, so she could undergo the same ritual they did to transform herself into Concord's living avatar. Behind her back, kirin derogatorily call her Matriarch Usurper.

Fickle Current

Role: Head of State (Kirian Civil War, Council of North Kiria)

Party: National Association of Kirin Patriots

Ideology: Corporatocracy^note Supremacy

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• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Fickle Current is a successful businesskirin who represents the interests of the kirin bourgeoisie returning home after the Silence. On the All-Kirian National Plenum, he secretly tries to sabotage the Grand Gallop Onward so Kiria would fall into civil war, and after victory, seeks to turn the country into a capitalist hellscape, where corporations hold absolute power (up to having the right for their own private armies) while most commoners are trapped in a vicious circle of debt slavery with no way out.
• Et Tu, Brute?: When his closest ally Cypress Snow moves to dismiss him as Chairkirin of the NAKP, Fickle Current reacts with an incomprehensible outburst, and has to be dragged kicking and screaming from the meeting. In his journal, he writes that he just didn't expect so-called friends to be the ones to pull the trigger, and that their betrayal hurts, thoough he cannot fault them—business is, after all, a cutthroat world.
• Everyone Has Standards: When the Pirates of Auburn Isle kidnap him partway through the focus tree that involves neutralizing them, Roaring Fire attempts to tempt Fickle Current with a deal to become his private mercenaries if he uses his power and influence to let them slip away. He does have the option to take the deal... but he also has the option to steadfastly refuse to deal with criminals, putting them in their places while using his intelligence to realize that this was not only the last, desperate gamble of people who know they can't win, but that they won't dare to lay a finger on him because that would both draw even more attention and make him useless as a hostage.
• Evil Virtues: Fickle Current is greedy and oligarchic at heart, but he's capable of great bravery, intelligence, and even self-control. Notably, he's the only one of the four starting party leaders who can never fall into a semi-permanent nirik state during the civil war.
• Feudal Overlord: After putting down the Children of Concord's peasant rebellion, Fickle Current makes the peasantry wards of the state and of Matriarch Superior Rain Shine. She shall see to them as their mother, providing for their needs in the form of food and shelter. In exchange, they will owe her their utmost loyalty, and it will be up to the Vassal Corporations, as the trusted instruments of the Matriarch's will, to ensure that they are worked hard, watched close and firmly disciplined. The first step in addressing inequality is to abolish wages and other 'rights' that only promote resentment and instead negotiate contracts and services with the towns under their jurisdictions.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: After both the Rising Fire and the NAKP rebel, as Vermilion is preoccupied with the Rising Fire and thus decides to temporarily tolerate the existence of the Emergency Council of North Kiria, the NAKP can take full advantage of this to attempt a plebiscite for the secession of the rest of the northern provinces from the Realm.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: While the NAKP is the most unsavoury side in the initial civil war, in a twist of irony, they can also end up the only bastion of sanity in Kiria if the Autumn Blaze-Winter Frost-Rising Sun triumvirate collapses and its members turn into niriks (something that will never happen to Fickle Current) that will plunge the rest of the country into unbridled hatred and violence. And while Fickle Current's clique are unpleasant oligarchs, they're at least not violent like the nationlists they caucus with.
• New Era Speech: After seizing control of Kiria, Fickle Current makes a speech that he considers to be one of the most important in his career, describing the cornerstone of Kiria's foreign policy for the future and charting the course for the direction of the NAKP to take Kiria from a regional hegemon into an East Zebrican superpower. Kiria shall assume its rightful place alongside the other great powers of the world: an Empire that will protect all kirin and spread civilisation beyond its borders, to conquer in Concord's name and to expand her demense. Backwards neighbours shall have their markets opened to the Tael, development and technology, provide the labour for the engines of progress, and be uplifted from their backwards ways.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Awkwardly zigzagged with Laser-Guided Karma. Fickle Current is removed from his semi-hardlocked position in the cabinet during the event where Roaring Fire kidnaps him and tries to get him to cut them a break in exchange for acting as his mercenary attack dogs, and the player has the opportunity (indeed, for most potential endings, the incentive) to replace him with someone else during that window, to his immense irritation and displeasure when he gets back onto the mainland and finds someone else in his seat. If Fickle bravely stood his ground and put the pirates in their place rather than subvert his country's well-being and his own personal principles for naked self-interest, it's the former. If he took the deal, it's the latter.
• One Nation Under Copyright: Under Fickle Current, the Corporate Concessions operate as de-facto regional governments, enforce their own laws, levies and taxation regimes, and preside over local bureaucratic and security hierarchies in the territories granted to them by Imperial Charter.
• Private Military Contractors: Fickle Current can bolster the Council of North Kiria's army with various mercenary formations from across the world to crush the decadent bureaucrats in Vermilion and the heretics in the west alike.
• Villainous Breakdown: After the Great Gallop Onward succeeds and Autumn Blaze demands the NAKP to pledge to share power in her new consociational Secretariat, Fickle has none of it and forces the NAKP Executive Committee to listen to him rant and rave for nearly half an hour about how ludicrous the proposal is before Ardent Bloom and Cypress Snow move to dismiss him.
• Visionary Villain: Fickle Current dreams of making Kiria a modern nation, the ideal of a rational society and global champion of the free market.

Dayspring Rose

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• Drowning My Sorrows: In one of the first events after Rising Sun betrays her revolution by proclaiming herself Supreme Matriarch, Dayspring Rose tries to chase away the feeling of betrayal by gulping down bottles of rice wine.
• Parental Abandonment: Dayspring Rose was abandoned at a temple in Chrysanthemum when she was a foal, with only vague memories of her parents, and was adopted and raised by Rising Sun as her own foal.

Kindling Flash

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• Cincinnatus: After leading the Children of Concord to victory against the NAKP, Kindling Flash willingly revokes his leadership of the Children's Revolt to the Common Senate, saying that he has full and complete faith in the Kirian people to accomplish their own democratic transition.

Mahogany Blaze

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• Identical Stranger: Mahogany Blaze bears a curious resemblance to Matriarch Superior Rain Shine, down to exact colourations. Kindling Flash compares him to a smaller version of Rain Shine, before she undertook the rituals that made her Matriarch Superior; when the Children of Concord rebel against the NAKP, Bright Burn and Dayspring Rose even suggest that he should call himself the heir to the Vermilion Throne.
• Interfaith Smoothie: Mahogany Blaze, who was born and raised in Equestria, synthesised the worship of Princess Celestia with the Way of Fire, seeing Celestia as a lesser manifestation of Concord, a Matriarch Superior if the world's first creatures were ponies, not kirin.
• Modest Royalty: As King of Kiria, Mahogany Blaze will know none of the material comforts of the Matriarchs, including the Vermilion Palace.
• Reluctant Ruler: Mahogany Blaze isn't exactly on board with the idea of being pretender to the Vermilion Throne, but nonetheless does style himself as the Vermilion Pretender to serve as the Children of Concord's rallying figure. Depending on whether Dayspring Rose or Kindling Flash is more influential when the Children of Concord are victorious, he might accept the Kingdom of Concord's crown or reject it in favour of leaving power in the Common Senate.
• What's Up, King Dude?: In a clean break from the Matriarchs Superior of old, Tranquil Light, as King of Kiria, journeys throughout the entire realm, lending aid to those who need it the most.

Cheli Cerae

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• False Flag Operation: In order to weaken Kiria, Cheli Cerae has her agents disguise as kirin to incite the Pirates of Nacre into rebellion against Vermilion and provoke an anti-changeling uprising in North Kiria, then sends soldiers in to 'restore order' and occupy parts of Kiria in the process before taking over the whole country.
• Kill and Replace: The Infils.-kommando Ost-Zebrika works tirelessly in the shadows, exercising the old Changeling politico-military traditions of infiltration and impersonation. Fragrancese politicians, industrialists and security officers who show signs of disloyalty, revanchism or anti-Changeling sentiment are quietly disposed of and their identities usurped by professional Changeling infiltrator-understudies.
• Player-Exclusive Mechanic: All of Cheli Cerae's focuses, and by extension the entire International City of Fragrance's content, can only be taken if she is controlled by a human player.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: After taking the brunt of the blame for the failure of the Canterlot Invasion of 1002, Cheli Cerae was disgraced, demoted, and her beloved Infils.-Kommando Equestria was defunded, before she's sent to Fragrance, obviously for her to languish in obscurity. Nevertheless, Cheli Cerae sees this as a chance to resuscitate the old infiltrator traditions, half a world away from home.
• The Spymaster: Cheli Cerae is an adept of the infiltrator traditions that have mostly fallen out of fashion in the Changeling Lands, and commands a corps of infiltrators that are sent to manipulate various Zebrican countries to serve the International City's own ends.
• The Starscream: If the Changeling Lands start losing the Great War, Cheli Cerae and Sciaridae begin to sever the strings tying them to the homeland. In place of the governance structures Vesalipolis originally prescribed, new commissions and new offices are created, with real authority instead of answering to Chrysalis. The Vesalipolis emissaries-supervisors who might pose a threat are placed under house arrest, and the rest given sinecures to keep them content. With the Changeling Lands too weak and distracted to mount any effective resistance, the Protectorate Ost-Zebrika becomes effectively independent, leaving the Changeling Hegemony and potentially establishing its own empire on Zebrica.

Roaring Fire

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• King of Thieves: Roaring Fire is the queen of the brigands and buccaneers that call Auburn Isle home.
• Totalitarian Gangsterism: Auburn Isle is in practice ruled entirely by the pirates under Roaring Fire's command, and is treated by the game as a demilitarised zone. One focus in the Great Gallop Forward tree deals with her and her pirates, during which Fickle Current can make a deal with her; if the NAKP subsequently wins the civil war, she can be officially named Chief Administrator of the Exclusive Naval Economic Zone of South Kiria, and is free to engage in whatever shenanigans she wants, as long as she responds when the state happens to need the shipping traffic of unfriendly powers disrupted or a statement made on some unfortunate coastal town.

Northwestern Zebrica

Maregypt

Full Name: Maregypt

Ruling Party: Knights of Maregypt

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

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• Egopolis: The capital city of Maregypt is called Somnambula after the Pillar of Equestria of the same name.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Maregypt is quite obviously a counterpart of Egypt.

Khefer

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Knights of Maregypt

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

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Klugetown

Full Name: Free City of Klugetown, Free Trade Zone (Maregypt and Abyssinia unification)

Ruling Party: Respectable Mafia

Ideology: Kleptocracy^note Supremacy

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• Bazaar of the Bizarre: In Klugetown, anything can be bought for the right price. From exotic drugs and hardened mercenaries to debt slaves and forged papers, Klugetown offers services most other nations deem immoral if not outright illegal.
• Land of One City: Klugetown is a city-state whose territory consists of the city itself and little else, though this doesn't stop them from conquering like any other country.
• Merchant City: Airships continually arrive and depart Klugetown, bringing goods and passengers across Zebrica. Naturally, this makes trade easy and lucrative, though it does also open up plenty of opportunities for smuggling.
• Totalitarian Gangsterism: In Klugetown, the state apparatus has been completely supplanted by organised crime, to the point that unhappy citizens turn to the crime bosses for recourse. This can potentially expand to the entire region if Klugetown conquers Maregypt and Abyssinia and establishes the Free Trade Zone.

Verkos

Role: Head of State

Party: Respectable Mafia

Ideology: Kleptocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}A clever criminal and entrepreneur who has ruled Klugetown for over 20 years, Verko kept Klugetown in business even during the Storm King's rule. With a strict code of honor and a talent for bargaining, Verko is widely respected and feared. As a client state to the Storm King Klugetown prospered, and even following an unfortunate run-in with Tempest Shadow he held onto power. One thing's for sure: Klugetown will stay open, no matter what!

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Kingdom of Abyssinia

Full Name: Kingdom of Abyssinia

---

• Exact Words: After Queen Mewmew II outlawed slavery by proclaiming all cats to be free, slaveowners exploited a legal loophole which did not explicitly forbid enslavement of non-felines. Over the century, hundreds of thousands of slaves have been acquired from abroad, either through trade or force.
• The Famine: Abyssinia is a dry region largely unsuited for agriculture. Before the Storm King's invasion, Abyssinia was perfectly capable of importing tonnes of food from abroad, but with an empty, sacked treasury and ever increasing internal instability, these imports have almost completely ceased. Food stocks are slowly but surely becoming completely empty. If nothing is done, starvation will threaten most of the populace.

Gomez Mawkonnen

Role: Head of State

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• The Eeyore: With his dreams shattered by the Storm King's invasion and his kingdom on the brink of collapse, Gomez's mental state worsened rapidly as he was unable to cope with the stress, while the government is completely paralysed, unable to do anything without the King's approval or command.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: Picking up tabletop miniature wargames, in addition to helping with his mental ability, also increases Gomez's planning skill as a general.

Saddle Arabia

^{Flag of the Arabian Popular Front}

^{Flag of the National Salvation Movement}

^{Flag of the Arabian Republic}

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• Civil War: Two months before game start, a four-way civil war erupted in Saddle Arabia between royalists, republicans, fascists and communists.

Grand Prince Faisal ibn Saddle

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Almalakiiyn

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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Zahra Al Malik

Role: Head of State

Party: Harakat Aishtirakiatan Earabia

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

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Muhaimid bin Hamza

Role: Head of State

Party: Hizb Altaqadum Alwatanii Alearbii

Ideology: Fascism^note Supremacy

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Yazid Al Hudhail

Role: Head of State

Party: Hizb al'Iislah

Ideology: Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony

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Central Zebrica

Azir (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

^{Flag of Tambelon (Path of Now and Forever)}

^{Flag of Tambelon (Eternal Doctrine)}

Full Name: Azir, Tambelon

Ideology: Tribal Chiefdom^note Non-Aligned

A near-wasteland of empty desert with few resources or inhabitants, Azir seems like a near blank spot on the map. But the ruins near its tiny major settlement hide an ancient secret, one which could bring first Zebrica and then the world to their knees...

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• Abusive Precursors: Old Tambelon was a society where all goats were free to pursue the arts of magic, on the backs of an ocean of slaves. They themselves treat the Sirens as this; it was slavery under the Sirens that drove Grogar to become the brutal mage-tyrant he is at the start of the story.
• Affably Evil: Many of the goats of Tambelon are kind and friendly to one another and to the Faithful Six. That does not mean they are good people; they are to a goat active participants in the horror Tambelon is and becomes.
• Allowed Internal War: When the Faithful Six split into the Eternal Doctrine and the Path of Now and Forever, Oskar proposes a democratic vote to determine the doctrine to be implemented, but Grogar overrules him and demands each doctrine to prove their superiority through a civil war. Zebrica (now fully controlled by Tambelon) is divided by a rough line spanning from the northwestern to the southeastern corners into two even halves, with the Eternal Doctrine taking the southwest and the Path of Now and Forever taking the northeast; Grogar himself steps back and promises to accept the proposal of the civil war's winner.
• Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: In Tambelon, goats are free to do whatever they wish, except for harming other goats. Those who break this fundamental law are turned into biomantically twisted, shapeless abominations, condemned to eternal suffering.
• Art Shift: Tambelon's focus trees have no branches at all and a bizarre radial structure unlike anything else in the mod, and Grogar is the only leader to have written his own in-game biography.
• Classical Chimera: The chimera's frontal half comes from a sabre-toothed cat, the rear from a goat, and the tail from a snake. The inclusion of a goat's head means the creature is fully sapient.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The Azirian slaves' revolt against their goat masters doesn't even last a day before they're slaughtered by ravenous beasts.
• Evil Counterpart: The Faithful Six are a coalition of goats who collaborate to help free Grogar from his prison, and are rewarded with places of honor in the new society of Tambelon. Like the Mane Six from the TV show, they showcase a variety of personalities and specializations, but twisted into dark new directions, especially when they split into two factions among themselves.
• Evil vs. Evil:
  • If the sirens have returned before Tambelon does, a horrified Grogar immediately rallies his nation to destroy them, gaining an automatic wargoal on Sirenalia. Without a trace of irony, he calls on his people to fulfill the original purpose of the Path of Now and Forever and save the world from their evil.
  • Later, the Faithful Six split into factions, warring between those endorsing the original Path of Now and Forever, that is, enslaving all the "sub-goats" and remaining watchful lest mind-sorcery ever return, and the new Eternal Doctrine holding that only through the complete extermination of all non-goat races can goatkind ever truly be safe and free.
• Evil Reactionary: Goatkind seeks a return to the days where they ruled the world and everycreature was either enslaved or dead. This extends to even their initial situation, where the goats continue speaking their ancient language and continuing as they always did without any presence of new technology or modern language.
• Evil Virtues: Tambelon doesn't use money and instead pays goatkind by providing them with everything needed for a comfortable life, creating the interesting side effect where most goats who pursue a life of leisure and luxury get bored with it and return to working, where they find happiness. Goatkind is always kind, courteous and civil to one another, likely helped by how Grogar punishes any bullying or cruelty with And I Must Scream as an example. Even disobedience is not met with total intolerance - Rachel being caught with technology and her grief at having her new office destroyed as punishment is greeted with sympathy by the attack team, one who suggests that she become a biomancer and offers to help her get there. In general, Tambelon is a very pleasant and happy place to live for goats. The only downside is that they're horrific racists who believe that all 'sub-goat scum' must be enslaved or subjected to genocide.
• Explosive Breeder: Purposefully designed to look visually appealing, parasprites are often easily adopted as pets and allowed to quickly multiply into entire swarms which consume everything edible, leading to a famine.
• Forced Transformation: A raw blast of biomantic energy can haphazardly turn thousands of organisms into unrecognisable shapes that cannot survive long.
• Hard-Coded Hostility: A month after the full conquest of Zebrica, every other country in the world will declare war on Tambelon.
• Human Sacrifice: The pony archaeologist's heart is pulled out and eaten as part of the ritual needed to bring back Tambelon.
• Luck-Based Mission: Fulfilling the requirements to play as Tambelon requires a significant number of factors a player basically no control over to break their way; even with frequent use of Custom Country Paths and tag switching.
• The Magic Versus Technology War: During their civil war, the Eternal Doctrine doubles down on Tambelon's special magic mechanics (gaining access to exclusive monsters, spells and monstrous equipment), while the Path of Now and Forever reconsiders Grogar's stance on technology and reindustrialises their territory (gaining access to factories and research, which are standard Hearts of Iron features not used by Tambelon until then).
• Mechanically Unusual Class: Even setting aside the bizarre set of circumstances necessary to play it, Tambelon has some truly odd mechanics. They don't engage in any kind of research or construction (at least before the civil war erupts), presumably due to Grogar's rejection of all modern technology in favor of magic, and handles all division recruitment through a special mechanic involving harvesting biomass from territory while utilizing crystals to supply monsters with equipment. They also have no conventional spy service, but after completing a focus for tuning Grogar's crystal ball he can see all over the world anyway, and their units tend to have very small goatpower requirements, although recruiting more is a challenge.
• Mooks: Long ago, Grogar enslaved a race of orc-like beings called troggles, who serve the goats of Tambelon as Slave Mooks. Though most serve the goats faithfully, one of them helps the bearers of the Elements of Harmony when they launch a six-woman (and one dragon) assault on Grogar personally, along with other like-minded troggles.
• Non-Standard Game Over: There are two ways for a Tambelon run to end before it even begins: if any of the home countries of the six goats the pony archaeologist has to meet (Buffalo Chiefdom, Jakistan, Katerin, Asterion, Central Zebrican Empire and Llambet) does not exist by the time he arrives there; or if the player makes the wrong choices when searching for the Bewitching Bell. In gameplay terms, the player gets switched to an unused tag, leading to an automatic game over. Later, the six Elements of Harmony make a daring six-woman raid on Tambelon to eliminate the threat Grogar poses, and can actually win out, banishing him once more with the aid of a handful of troggles who hate him for enslaving their race. Pinkie Pie even jokes about their victory being reset "by a lanky monkey behind a computer screen" before the game crashes.
• Our Hydras Are Different: The hydra is a reptile that has two legs, four heads with elongated necks and sharp snapping jaws, capable of quickly regrowing lost body parts, including heads.
• Our Manticores Are Spinier: Manticores are medium-sized creatures resembling lions with leathery wings, sensitive bat ears and a large scorpion tail dripping with potent venom.
• Persecution Flip: After the fall of the goatocracy, their former slaves massacred the goats across the entire world. Goats fled into hiding, forming secluded and isolated communities which were often persecuted.
• Photoprotoneutron Torpedo: Nestled in a titan's mouth is an organic proton accelerator cannon capable of eviscerating almost any victim.
• Player-Exclusive Mechanic: The Tambelon event chain only plays if a human player starts the game as Azir.
• Purposefully Overpowered: Grogar's armies and magic are designed to be so powerful that every single nation that fights him is almost certain to lose. He can instantly create new units, spark famines, and mass nuke provinces with little to no cost, and even wipe a random enemy unit out of existence with a single decision. The actual challenge comes when Tambelon fractures into civil war, and to a lesser extent when the player actually has to successfully navally invade the other two continents.
• Rain of Blood: Turning water into blood is one of the simplest biomantic cantrips. When applied to clouds, it can result in a rain of blood that massively destabilises whichever country subject to it.
• Roc Birds: Rocs are oversized birds of prey with extremely sharp claws and an enlarged, pointed beak made out of harder material than bone or keratin.
• Sea Serpents: Sea serpents are large snakes with long arms with sharp claws that can survive on both land and water, but prefer to live underwater since they cannot move on land. Sea serpents are nearly sapient and can outsmart their enemies on the ocean, including ships.
• Secret Character: Azir does not appear on the interesting countries screen (which, as a rule, displays all countries that got new or reworked content in the latest major patches) and is not mentioned in the changelog of the patch in which it was added (with the only hint being a goat emoji). A perceptive player might notice that Azir does not have a focus tree at all, not even the generic one shared by all contentless Zebrican countries. Indeed, when starting a game as Azir, you will not receive the warning event that fires for all contentless or outdated countries, but you still need to wait until 12 October 1008 (22 months after game start) before the first event in Tambelon's event chain fires, and will only receive your focus tree on 9 September 1009. On a technical level, the data related to Tambelon's events, focuses and mechanics is even scattered all over otherwise-unrelated files to prevent discovery through data-mining, which makes it a bit ambiguous how many of the crashes on a Non-Standard Game Over are intentional artistic choices and how many are the result of this jury-rigged setup.
• Shout-Out: A race of traumatized former slaves decides on the cruel necessity of enslaving all other sapient life as the only way to ever truly be certain of their hard-won freedom, only to fracture in civil war between those satisfied with this new status quo and those demanding a Final Solution. Tambelon is clearly inspired by the Ur-Quan Hierarchy of Star Control II; the respective factions are even called the Path of Now and Forever and the Eternal Doctrine and Grogar's categorization of non-goats into "filth" and "threats" echoes the Kohr-Ah's descriptions towards the player in that game.
• Voluntary Vassal: When Zarantia reaches out to Azir, the latter will willingly join the former, causing all of Azir's cores to become Zarantia's as well.

Tin Zinan

Role: Head of State

Ideology: Tribal Chiefdom^note Non-Aligned

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• And I Must Scream: After easily crushing Tin Zinan's attempt to rebel, the goats keep him and a dozen other rebellious slaves alive, but replace their mouths with small feeding holes and cut off their legs, forcing them to crawl like maggots—a warning to all slaves that resistance would be punished most severely.
• Expy: A visual one of Anakin Skywalker from Attack of the Clones; sporting the exact same robes and haircut (complete with braid), and ironically looking at a hoofful of sand.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Although his story claims he was once enslaved and swore never to be again, Azir has the "Slave Society" economy long before Tambelon returns.
• Sacrificial Lamb: In a Tambelon playthrough, Tin Zinan's sole role is to suffer a gruesome fate in order to demonstrate the goats' cruelty and power.

Grogar

Ideology: Tyrannical Magocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}In a long forgotten primorial age, I, Grogar, the fleshbending master of goatkind, unleashed an unspeakable evil. I gave life to the foulest of creatures and allowed them to run wild, taking what they wanted and destroying the rest. My reign was a glorious, fear-soaked epoch of darkness.

But, a foolish pony warrior called Gusty stepped forth to oppose me. She failed to defeat me in direct combat, yet before the final blow was struck, she stole my Bewitching Bell. With it, she tore open a portal to another dimension, then flung me and the capital of Tambelon into the Realm of Darkness.

The remaining goats lost control of the monsters and our reign came to an end. They were slaughtered en masse, the few survivors scattering across the world, their magical powers and intelligence greatly diminished now that no one feared them anymore.

Yet not all goats forgot about their heritage. Some of them waited for millenia, preparing for the stars to once more align, so I could return and take my rightful place at the top of the world. Their patience was rewarded. The Father of Monsters has returned, and the world trembles in terror.

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• Animalistic Abomination: Grogar's entire career is built on being as close as you can to a professional manufacturer of these, which he deploys as weapons of war.
• Ancient Evil: Grogar is one of the oldest villains in the history of the world of EAW, and started life as a G1 MLP villain.
• The Cameo: Outside of a Tambelon playthrough, Grogar only makes an appearance at the end of an Ascendancy playthrough, when Hiram Zerranid's attempt to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence just drops him into Grogar's prison, where he's enslaved and comes to a sticky end.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Grogar knows that he's evil and enjoys it, and always talks about his long and bloody career positively.
• Crystal Ball: Grogar possesses an omnipotent crystal ball which gives Tambelon massive bonuses to intelligence gathering, despite their inability to establish a conventional spy service.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: One of the most authoritarian rulers in the entire mod, Grogar intends to create a worldwide dictatorship where all have fallen and all answer to him alone, and only him. Interestingly, he simultaneously views it as Utopia Justifies the Means, since Grogar sees his tyranny as necessary to prevent the Sirens from enslaving anyone else or anyone else from ever enslaving goatkind, and the goats' everyday lives in Tambelon are comfortable and fulfilling... but the catch is that Grogar doesn't see any non-goats as people at all.
• The Dreaded: In and out of universe. Grogar is so feared that the Mane Six waste no time in trying to take him down themselves, and many players familiar with franchise history reacted with shock and horror when his path was finally discovered.
• Eldritch Abomination: Grogar is treated and summoned as one in-universe, an immensely powerful and ancient monster who can only be summoned when the stars align on a specific date - that is, 9 September 1009.
• Evil Genius: Grogar himself is one of the greatest experts in dark magic and biomancy, with the monsters he creates able to completely destroy most nations' militaries.
• Evil Reactionary: Grogar has no patience for modern technology, forbidding its use in Tambelon and insisting on solving all problems through magic.
• Fantastic Racism: Grogar is an open racist who despises all non-goat creatures, even his loyal troggles, and calls any goat that goes after him a race traitor. He intends to purify the world by either enslaving all non-goats, or murdering them. Grogar personally divides all non-goat species into 'animals' (for him to create monsters with), 'filth' (civilian non-combatants), 'threats' (enemy combatants), and goatkind. It's even implied that the concept of racism in the mod's world might have originated with him.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Grogar claims that he does what he does so that goatkind will never known slavery again. To everyone who is not a goat, this does not justify worldwide slavery or genocide.
• Horrifying the Horror: The only thing that could bring terror to Grogar is when he looks at Hippogriffia through his crystal ball, notices the locals' eyes are glowing green and they are acting like puppets, and realises that the sirens, the goats' former masters, are not as extinct as he thought.
• It's Personal: Grogar regards the city of Cloudsdale, where he was defeated and banished by Gusty the Great, as a reminder of his defeat, and orders its destruction after conquering it.
• Maker of Monsters: Known and feared as the 'Father of Monsters', Grogar is a master biomancer who gave life to the foulest of creatures and allowed them to run wild, taking what they wanted and destroying the rest. He has a perverse, almost fatherly affection for them and is offended at the suggestion they might not love him back.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": Because Azir is so remote, Grogar's return isn't even noticed until the Mane Six start investigating. The confirmation that he's back sparks international panic and results on every nation in the world eventually declaring war on Tambelon.
• Obviously Evil: His portrait is one of the most frightening in the mod, complete with Glowing Eyes of Doom and a subdued Slasher Smile.
• Our Founder: A huge statue depicting Grogar is built in Tambelon after it returns to the primary dimension from banishment.
• Physical God: Grogar is worshipped as a god by the goats and is so powerful that he qualifies for one.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Spots a very prominent and very scary pair of red eyes.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Millennia ago, Grogar and Tambelon were banished to the Realm of Darkness by the pony Gusty the Great, leaving behind only ruins deep in the Zebhara desert. Tambelon's initial event chain revolves around finding a way to undo the banishment.
• Shout-Out: His self-written Biography evokes the famous opening episode monologue by Aku in Samurai Jack.
• Take Over the World: Grogar's goal is to restore goatocratic rule across the entire world. As part of its initial focus tree, Tambelon declares war on every Zebrican country; after conquering the whole continent, it will have to fight off the entire rest of the world, as every other country declares war on Tambelon, making it one of the three countries (the others being the Dread League and the April Fool's exclusive Katzennia) that can do a world conquest run without having to justify war goals.

Preservation Council

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• Even Evil Has Standards: Rachel, Randy, and Abram believe that the Eternal Doctrine is going too far when they demand the extermination of all slaves.
  Rachel: As part of the Faithful Six... erm, I guess it's the Faithful Three now, it is our duty to save goatkind and all of our slaves.
  Randy: Save our slaves?
  Abram: Well, yeah, those cultists said they should all be killed.
  Randy: I... I was good friends with a sub-goat once. A minotaur. Sure, he was filth, but he doesn't deserve death. That's just cruel.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Rachel was a tinker who loved working with machines and inventions, even using one to retrieve the Bell, before the return of Tambelon. Unfortunately, Grogar has no patience for such work, leaving her a bit miserable. Other goats try to get her into biological magic as an outlet for her artistic impulses instead.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Although the bar is extremely low, the Path of Now and Forever clearly comes out as somewhat less monstrous than the Eternal Doctrine, since they at least don't want to exterminate all non-goats and also embrace the advancements of modern society.
• Pragmatic Villainy: The Path of Now and Forever improves slave living conditions and utilise a more efficient occupation policy. Instead of letting monsters run rampant and mistreating slaves, putting them to work depending on personal abilities and giving them proper housing, food, healthcare and free time will reduce the risk of rebellion and increase productivity.
• Slave Liberation: After Tambelon conquers the world, the Path of Now and Forever is abandoned and slavery abolished. Some creatures still resist Tambelon's rule, but many find their new lives to be rather comfortable.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Subverted. While the Path of Now and Forever is a massive slave-society, they embrace a marginally less brutal form of slavery than Tambelon originally used... and they are still the lesser evil compared to the Eternal Doctrine of mass genocide of all non-caprine life.

Council of Cleansing

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• Conscription: With troggle slave-soldiers being reclassified as filth to be exterminated, the Eternal Doctrine introduces conscription. It is the duty of goats to serve—refusal will be punished. Conscripts can be relieved once world purification is complete.
• Final Solution: To the Eternal Doctrine, the only way for the goat master race to survive is the total genocide of every non-goat creature in existence, using monsterkind and magic to murder millions.
• Human Resources: The Eternal Doctrine develops the great maw, which converts the result of their extermination campaigns into more biomass, and accelerates crystal production by condensing the innate magical energy of sapient creatures, which always kills the subjects in the process.
• Kraken and Leviathan: The leviathan, the largest monster created by goatkind, resembles a mix of fish, whale and shark, with seven heads and large and sharp teeth and claws. Entirely aquatic, they can dive several kilometres deep and devour ships whole.
• Omnicidal Maniac: The Eternal Doctrine regards the Path of Now and Forever as flawed, since while the goats' former siren masters were exterminated, other potential master races were not. This grim task must now be fulfilled so no one survives.
• Plague Master: The Eternal Doctrine can manipulate microbiology to engineer a sufficiently infectious, lethal and adaptable epidemic.
• Reality Warper: The Eternal Doctrine's ultimate spell unravels the fabric of reality, causing dimensions to collapse, time to stop functioning and antimatter to leak into the primary dimension, wreaking unfathomable havoc.
• Thinking Up Portals: After conquering the world, by studying portals constructed by ponies, Giles, Oskar and Gore are able to create replicas that function for several minutes before collapsing, in preparation for a conquest of the whole universe.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: According to the Eternal Doctrine, the troggles have outlived their usefulness and their loyalty can never be guaranteed. They are hence reclassified into filth and must be cleansed like any other sub-goat race.

Central Zebrican Empire

Full Name: Central Zebrican Empire

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

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• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The name of the Central Zebrican Empire, and that of its yeti warlord Emperor Alokassa I, are clear references to the former Central African Empire in modern day CAR, and its self-declared Emperor Bokassa I.
• Foreign Ruling Class: The CZR is a majority zebra nation ruled by an upper class of yetis, who are remnants of the Storm King's army.

Alokassa I

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

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Great Lakes

Alwani

Full Name: Alwani

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Vestigial Empire: Alwani was once a great kingdom, controlling territory from Timbucktu to the Central Zebrican Empire, before it was subjugated by Mazwi. After the Mazwian hegemony in the Great Lakes was broken by the Storm King, the kingdom was reestablished, but Timbucktu rejected Alwani's authority and the east fell under control of a yeti warlord.

Euzegoar

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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Timbucktu

Full Name: Timbucktu

Ideology: Harmonic Libertarianism^note Harmony

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• Merchant City: Timbucktu is located at an intersection of several vital trade routes that intersect the Zebrican continent. Every merchant passing by pays a toll, filling Timbucktu's coffers.

Agil Agamal

Role: Head of State

Ideology: Harmonic Libertarianism^note Harmony

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Imperial Mazwi

Full Name: Imperial Mazwi

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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• Vestigial Empire: Imperial Mazwi, the former hegemon of the Great Lakes, was utterly crushed by the Storm King's invasion. Now, ten zebra warlords fight each other to determine the fate of the region.

Manza Mahud

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

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Macigena

Full Name: Macigena, Custodianship of God (Great Lakes unification)

Ideology: Authoritarian Theocracy^note Supremacy

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• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Culturally, Macigena is vaguely based off the Fulani, who led a series of jihads across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Fantasy Counterpart Religion: The faith of Macigena is loosely based off Islam, if it was created in an equivalent of the 20th century.
• The Theocracy: Macigena is a theocracy ruled by the Prophet Almami Zekuris, who preaches the only true way of worshipping God, the spirits and the ancestors, and writes down his Word in scripture.

Almami Zekuris

Role: Head of State

Ideology: Authoritarian Theocracy^note Supremacy

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Hayzeb Federation

Full Name: Hayzeb Federation

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

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• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Hayzeb are culturally based off the Hausa people.

Bamina

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

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• Patricide: After defeating her father's army in a slave revolt, Bamina offered him a choice: she could take him prisoner and show his army mercy, or let him go but allow her rebels to slaughter his followers. When he chose the second option, she beheaded him on the spot and spared his army.
• Red Baron: Bamina, the Chainbreaker, stands poised to march across all the Great Lakes, freeing slaves and bringing unity by the edge of her blade.
• Slave Liberation: Bamina has sworn an oath, as the first Queen of all the Hayzeb, to liberate every slave in the Great Lakes, and she will not rest until that oath is fulfilled.

Southwestern Zebrica

Magocracy of Maretania

Full Name: Magocracy of Maretania

Ruling Party: The Most Enlightened Council of Magi, Ulama, and Mystics of the Obsidian Chamber in Mareib

Ideology: Harmonic Magocracy^note Harmony

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• Expy: With the mages' duty of researching and containing different monsters and a certain propensity for redaction, Maretania's clearly an expy of the SCP Foundation.
• The Magocracy: The Magocracy of Maretania is a realm that has been ruled by mages for hundreds of years.

Taous bin Hanbal

Role: Head of State

Party: The Most Enlightened Council of Magi, Ulama, and Mystics of the Obsidian Chamber in Mareib

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

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Southern Zebrica

Shared Tropes

• Civil War: Since the death of the Storm King, four of his generals have been fighting a civil war for control over the core territory of the Storm Kingdom.

Southeastern Zebrica

Talarayi

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• Eldritch Abomination: The guardian spirit of Tampuk, the Golden City, is a powerful, incomprehensible and all-too-real mystical deity only known as the Thunder Tiger.
• Weather-Control Machine: The Weather Manifold (called Golden Temple by the natives), located in Tampuk, is an ancient magical structure that has long since malfunctioned and been uncontrollably leaking magic into the region around it, which explains how Southeastern Zebrica is a jungle despite its high latitude.

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