The Federation flag


Composition: City-state with attendant federation of vassal states
Geopolitical Stature: Magical, technological, and naval power
Government: Nominal monarchy with advisory parliament
Capital: Lombard
Leadership: Alessandra I Regina Osella Corgiatto Trogliano Abate Piccona Marivaldi di Corio
Dominant Religion: Ultui
Dominant Language: Lombardese, Bardec
Imports: Dyes, furs, glass-quality sand, marble, softwoods, spices, textiles
Exports: Alchemical compounds, gemstones, hardwoods, jewelry, minerals, precious metals, science


Though no country begins as a beacon of enlightenment, it cannot be argued that Regna has grown to become a scholastic and scientific power in the last century or two. Its technological and magical prowess are the envy of its neighbors in a world otherwise largely devoid of recent scientific advancement.

Originally a series of disparate neighboring city-states, the contemporary Federation emerged slowly from a tenuous coalition built on a foundation of trade treaties, geographical proximity, and shared interests. Dozens of independent minor realms solidified, over many hundreds of years, into more cohesive and successful nations, among them Arcadia, Del'Hanas, Gvante, and Greendale. None rose so high nor reached so far as the progressive enatic monarchy known as Regna, however, whose language and culture spread out to dominate those of its counterparts. Thanks in part to the evolution of that academic institution which would, eventually, become what is now known as the Collegio, Regna created something of a "brain drain" upon other nations, nearby. Great talents, thinkers, and the magically gifted migrated more and more to Regna's capital of Lombard, making it a center of art and innovation.

The population of Regna benefited such from the Collegio's advances that the number of practicing spellwrights there swelled in proportions matched only by the queendom's technological progress. Soon, both scholarly discourse and the flow of resources had come to favor Regna in such a way that the region's economies could no longer exist independently from it. Over nearly a century, the neighboring city-states�forced to rely on Regnan roads, Regnan ship designs, and Regnan industry and manufacturing�folded one by one, pledging themselves in vassalage to rule by Lombard's queens. These initial alliances were crude and cumbersome, at the outset, but were gradually refined into the modern federative system, wherein each realm is given a parliamentary representative with a voice in regional affairs. In theory, this makes Del'Hanas, Arcadia, and the rest somewhat autonomous and preserves their dignity as distinct cultures; in practice, however, Regna's queen now leads the entire federation, which has developed largely into an extension of Regna.

Though it is sometimes casually known just as "the alliance," the Regnan Federation�officially founded in 0 Lombardi Lista by Livia Drusilla I Regina di Corio "the Unifier" (-43LL�29LL)�has transformed into far more than a band of somewhat like-minded counties and ten-penny republics. The Parlamento di Regina seats plenipotentiaries from Del'Hanas (now the Federation's leading provider of fish and advanced vessels), Arcadia (home to the largely ceremonial military), Gvante (which serves as the seat of much production, industry, and shipping), Greendale (the timber capital and breadbasket of the Federation), and the Collegio (graduated to protected neutral ground as part of the agreements under which the city-states pledged themselves to Regna). These five individuals advise the Queen on all matters of state, though they have no actual outright power over her decisions; nonetheless, Regna's leading women have demonstrated loyalty to the spirit of the Federation, as well as their hereditary wisdom, by enabling the custom of city-state participation at court and by bestowing certain traditional titles onto Parliamentarians as a way of cementing their function in government. This practice has kept the peace for quite some time, and generally ensures the Queen can count on support from the rest of her Parliament whenever one representative opposes her actions.

Rulership of Regna proper continues to pass from mother to daughter, and heirs to the Twinned Throne continue to receive the best access to military, fiscal, and arcane scholarship. The gift of magic runs strong in the di Corio line, and Regna lays claim to quite a number of famous historical economic, naval, and magical geniuses�for which the queendom graciously gives credit to the combined resources and cultures of the Federation's constituent vassalry. This is reflected in the custom of carrying the names of those original founding noble houses that were absorbed into the di Corio family during their generations-long ascension to the Twinned Throne: Osella (Collegio), Corgiatto (Del'Hanas), Trogliano (Gvante), Abate (the last serious matrilineal rival for Regna), Piccona (Greendale), and Marivaldi (Arcadia). These family names are incorporated into the queendom's heraldry, as well. The long listing of heritage serves as a helpful reminder to others of Regna's accomplishments; the patriarchs of Arcadia have made a habit of suffering less than gladly under the rule of a woman, for instance, and are wont to make sufficient noise that Regna's queens have, more than once, been forced to interfere directly in the former duchy's politics.

The current queen, Alessandra I, has been an excellent ruler since the untimely (and somewhat mysterious) death of her mother, Geltrude II. Forced to take the reins of the Federation right at the beginning of war with the neighboring Serene Empire, she is rumored to have cleansed her cabinet of traitors and seditionists with blood, to keep control of the throne. In truth, she consigned a number of naysayers to prison, in no small part to secure the full cooperation of Arcadia�since the Sentinel Mountains form a critical front that shields Regna from imperial advances, the duchy's absolute loyalty was a key factor in preventing early incursions during the first years of the conflict. This is especially true in light of Regna's relatively small military, drawn almost entirely from Arcadian martial traditions and pared down to ceremonial positions over recent decades. Luckily, while Arcadia's patriarchal attitudes have caused problems for female soldiers (Regnan high command) as the war grinds on, the money diverted from ground troops to agriculture and education, over the last generation, has yielded a surplus of crucial stores and a significant technomagical advantage over the cruder spells and weaponry of the Empire. Armed with ever-evolving firearms and a superior industrial framework and supply system, Regna's generals use Arcadia to hold the lines at the new citadel of Baranda Gate. Alessandra's refusal to cave before the Empire's demands have won her immense respect from the general populace, despite separatists who would rather things return to their prior state, and the young queen has so far demonstrated admirable tactical prowess in deflecting imperial attacks.

See also:
Arcadia
Collegio
Del'Hanas
Greendale
Gvante

A rough map of the Regnan Federation