• Government Type: Dictatorship
• Symbol: Vulture
• Major Races: Dwarves
• Major Cities: Polis

The far eastern reaches of Cahyali are a polar wasteland, to some… but to Pthora, it is home. Mostly tundra, the technical territory of Pthora spans most of the far-eastern side of the Cahyali continent, although most of their population is located only in the north. The climate of Pthora is cold year-round, with temperatures approaching temperate in the midst of summer. A mystical leyspring lies in the south, its surroundings shrouded in mystery and danger. Pthora is loosely based on the real-world country of Russia.

Since its founding, Pthora has known constant war - thousands of years ago, against the armies of Dahabu, and more recently, it has been locked in an arms race against Ley’Ork and the Oxis Alliance. In the intervening time, its struggle against the cold of the southern tundra has defined national identity. Pthora and war are entities so deeply linked that one cannot disentangle them any longer. With the largest standing army and most developed military in all of Cahyali, its martial might is a force to be reckoned with.

Pthora is home to a wealth of natural resources: stone and ore, all mined from the Stili Mountains (particularly the towering Polis Peak). Most notably of these resources is a metal called sabarium, widely sought after for its easy malleability when forging, but incredible strength when cooled and set. Many of the greatest armors and weapons were constructed out of sabarium. This resource is tightly controlled by the Ember Army.

Having switched hands rapidly from dictatorship to dictatorship over the years, the current regime in Pthora calls itself the Ember Army, led by their High General Katerina Svetlana. She rules from the Winter Office, in the grand city of Polis, and is considered on the same level as a god by most of the Pthoran populace.

Svetlana employs a small cabinet of trusted subordinates, made up of select people she knows she can manipulate as puppets to her will. Under the Ember Army, military officers are public officials, with no escape from the specter of everlasting war in daily life. In addition to the Ember Army police that can be found on every street corner, reporting directly to the Winter Office is an order of secret police: the Ystervius. Fulfilling intelligence duties and carrying out covert operations throughout Cahyali, the Ystervius are a specter force to civilians and an extreme threat to foreign governments.

The Ember Army enforces a variety of laws through its stringent police force, and carries out many public executions. These are attended by massive crowds of people, usually taking the form of hanging or death by firing squad. Pthoran prisons usually take the form of work camps near the edge of Johtalit territory, and inmates are occasionally sent on expeditions into the wilderness - promised freedom if they return.

• Theft of personal property: Incarceration for up to 30 days
• Theft of government property: Incarceration for up to 2 years
• Use of unsanctioned magic, non-divine: Incarceration for up to 10 years and fine of up to 2,000 gc.
• Use of unsanctioned magic, divine: Incarceration for 20 years - life, or execution.
• Speaking ill of the Ember Army, or sullying their name publicly: Fine of up to 500 gc and incarceration for up to 8 years.
• Assault: Incarceration for up to 4 years
• Assault on an officer of the law or Ember Army member: Execution
• Creation or patronage of “degenerate” art: Fine of up to 3,000 gc
• Murder & rape: Execution
• Illegal exit of the country: Deportation back to Pthora, incarceration for up to 8 years
• Treason: Execution, & incarceration of family members for up to 5 years

For more information on the history and culture of Pthora, follow this link: Pthora History & Overview

Polis, Everlasting Northern Star: Population 12 million. The capital of Pthora, Polis is its largest city. Having stood for millennia, this city is carved out of the side of Polis Peak itself. It stands as a testament to Dwarven culture on Pthora, and acts as a grand facade for the might of each short-lived authoritarian regime passing through the nation. Polis is far wealthier and technologically advanced than the rest of Pthora. Its greater metropolitan region contains about 80% of Pthora's population (excluding the indigenous peoples).

• Svetagrad Town: Population 0. Located on the edge of the Polis metropolitan region is an eerie ghost town, devastated by plague in 10025. Rumor has it that eerie, frozen undead wander the rotting streets - an unnatural sight even for the undead…

Czernobog, Embers' Portrait: Population 500,000. Pthora keeps a tight handle on the arts, with the Winter Office reserving the ability to mark any artistic venture they deem “unhelpful” or “unflattering” as “degenerate” and pursue it with legal power. In Czernobog is a veritable cornucopia of “approved” art, from literature praising the regime, to landscape paintings emphasizing the might and natural beauty of the surroundings, to patriotic and propagandistic music. Many museums exist in Czernobog, all controlled by the Ember Army. Yet, supported by Arenti, a small yet robust artistic underground persists, pursuing mortal expression free of the chains of the restrictive regime. Czernobog is located within the greater Polis region.

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