Astrea

Astrea is a land inhabited by devout followers of the Sovereign, who established the Church to teach and research His laws. Astrea is legally ruled by four noble families and a royal clan, but the Church has far more power and influence over average people than the government does. Astrea is a massive and sparsely populated land, but the small number of cities and suburbs it does contain are well-guarded and inhabited by educated citizens taught to obey the laws of both the Church and crown practically since birth. Because of this, Astrea is a land where conflict is rare, and most people simply do what they are told without a care in the world. However, the heavy influences of the Church meant that those who could not or did not wish to obey its strict doctrine are exiled to the wild to live in seclusion. Due to the powerful magic of the Church's clerics, rebellions by the exiled population are usually swiftly dealt with.

Astrea uses the Standardized Timekeeping System common across the entire Realm of Materials.

Founding
According to legend, Astrea's history began over 3000 years ago, when the Sovereign granted four brothers gifts of physical prowess, while their sister received a keen intellect to be their leader. These siblings then became the progenitors of the four noble houses and royal clan of Astrea, respectively. The Sovereign then assigned the people of Astrea a mission to pass down His laws and doctrine for generations to come, which led to the formation of the Church.

Establishing the Forest of Fiends
Within the first 1000 years of Astrea's existence, the Church began to realize that not all Astreans are willing to make the necessary sacrifices in order to obey the Sovereign's decrees. Instead of abandoning their mission of proliferating the Sovereign's teachings, however, the Church instead designated a region to the north of Astrea as the "Forest of Fiends" and sent all those who went against its teachings (colloquially known as "fiends" or "heretics") to the Forest in exile.

After about 20 years of this, a large group of magic-using exiles rebelled against the Church, but were quickly defeated by its clerics and sent back into the Forest, before a magical dome that cannot be penetrated from the inside was placed over the entire region.

Past Demonic Invasion(s)
The first and only Demonic Invasion against Astrea began in the year 2020, starting in the Forest of Fiends before invasion forces quickly realized how difficult it was to leave the region, and gave up. This invasion was extremely small-scaled and considered as nothing more than a false rumor by the majority of Astreans, seeing as it was entirely contained in the Forest of Fiends.

The next invasion in 2520 did not initially affect Astrea in any way, seeing as it was targeted towards Miasmia, but eventually, news of the destruction reached Astrea after merchants grew suspicious at the sudden cease of imports coming from Miasmia, and the entire nation was put on edge as Queen Sheres (leader of Astrea at the time) repared her military for demonic enemies...who never actually showed up.

The Current Demonic Invasion
After Arch-Bishop Cruri, leader of the Church in 3020, was tipped off about the third Demonic Invasion through a prophetic vision, he and King Svindorum (ruler of Astrea in 3020) decided to fight proactively and eliminate the demonic threat by force instead of waiting for it to gain the courage to invade Astrea. Thus, the Crusades were organized, and thousands of warriors and scholars all across Astrea were shipped off to Miasmia in the fight against demons.

The Noble Houses
There are four noble houses in the land of Astrea, whose members serve as advisors and even consorts to the king or queen. Membership in a noble house is only partially determined by blood relations, because anyone born with the defining traits of a house (thus indicating that they were blessed by the Sovereign in the same way as members of that house) can join it. This, of course, excludes members of enslaved races.

House Crowen
Membership in House Crowen is defined by possessing wings, a traits that suggests they were granted the gift of flight by the Sovereign, much like one of Astrea's founders. Birds, dragons, and bats can all be found in House Crowen, and its members facilitate a kobold slave trade throughout the land.

House Forleg
Membership in House Forleg is defined by having a quadrupedal body structure, a trait that suggests they were chosen by the Sovereign to carry the future of Astrea on their backs, much like one of the nation's founders. Many of House Forleg's members are ungulates such as horses and cows, but almost all races of mammals and reptiles can be found in this house.

House Tieton
Membership in House Tieton is defined by physical largeness, whether that means a mortal's entire body is giant compared to their peers, or only a part of it is disproportionately huge. This size difference is believed to be a gift from the Sovereign to help one of Astrea's founders frighten away invaders and heretics. Members of House Tieton are typically large animals such as elephants and giraffes, but there can occasionally be some very ironic exceptions.

House Yeesim
Membership in House Yeesim is defined not by an inherent physical trait, but a psychological trait that can be tested and discerned: courage. Every year, House Yeesim hosts tryouts to select the most courageous commoners to join its ranks, while any cowardly offsprings of its current members would be casted out and made slaves of the other three houses. Because of this, members of House Yeesim are the most diverse and have no majority racial patterns like the other three houses.

The Royal Family
The royal family of Astrea does not actually have a name, and all of its members also only have one name. This is done deliberately, because many believe that the title of "king" or "queen" can sufficiently serve the purpose of a surname.

When the current king or queen of Astrea comes of age to produce offspring, they must choose a spouse from one of the four noble houses, and must marry them within the next nine years. After that, the royal couple typically tries their hardest to produce an heir, and should they have multiple children, the eldest would be chosen as the new monarch once their parents pass away or become unfit to rule.

Due to the fact that royal suitors come from the four noble houses, the king or queen of Astrea could be of any race depending on who his or her parents are.

Slavery
Slavery is legal in Astrea, because the Church teaches that if all Astreans must serve the Sovereign without question, then the Sovereign's chosen ones must deserve the same degree of service. Therefore, Astrean royalty, nobles, and Church leaders are allowed to own slaves.

Slaves are typically poorly-performing Church members, former nobles rejected by their house(s), or kobolds bred for the specific purpose of being slaves (should an owner decide that the former two options are below their tastes).

Slaves are branded with the crest of whoever owns them: A feather for House Crowen nobles, a horseshoe for House Forleg nobles, a clenched fist for House Tieton nobles, a shield for House Yeesim nobles, a crown for the royal family, or a four-pointed star for the Church. They must obey all orders (direct or implicit) from their corresponding owners, and do anything they must to protect their owners' wellbeing, but they must do so for no one else unless specifically commanded to by their owners. Slaves found to be disobedient are usually exiled without trial or killed.

Exile
Exile to the Forest of Fiends is the worst punishment available to most Astreans, as the Sovereign commands that only soldiers can willfully kill or be killed under any circumstances.

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), thanks to Astrea's extensive education system and propaganda campaigns, rarely does an Astrean dare to break the law of the crown or publicly oppose the Church. Despite this, however, the Forest of Fiends continues to be placed under heavy surveillance and security, and its adjacent city of Wintervale had all but become a military base.

The Capital
The capital city of Astrea has no name, because it's the only capital that the nation has, so there is nothing else to distinguish it from. The royal family and members from all four noble houses live and work in this city, and it's the second most well-guarded location in all of Astrea next to the Forest of Fiends. The capital city is the size of all of Astrea's other major cities (save for Aquarine Bay) combined, and it's the home of the Citadel, a site of worship said to be built upon the ground where the Sovereign appeared to Astrea's founders centuries ago.

Equiburn
Equiburn is a major commercial and production center in Astrea, due to its surrounding climate being perfect for farming. It has many suburbs, such as Grasmere and Woodhaerst, that are dedicated to the processing of natural resources. However, the most notable feature of Equiburn is its College of Arcane Arts, where students study the supernatural powers of the Sovereign and attempt to achieve it themselves through magic in an effort to be closer to Him. Many graduates from this college move on to become clerics and paladins of the Church, and the college itself contains the largest library and collection of magical artifacts out of all the major cities.

Ashbourne
Ashbourne is the southernmost city in Astrea, and was built for the sole purpose of facilitating mining operations in the nearby deserts. Ashbourne got its name when a dynamite-related accident nearly burnt down the whole city during its first decade of existence, but it's since recovered and became a major hub for trade and popular location for retiring nobles due to its relatively secluded location.

Aquarine Bay
Originally name Aquamarine Bay, this city's name was changed due to a communication error and never corrected. Despite this, it's grown to be an enormous tourism hub due to its beachside location and the fact that it's home to the largest marine port in Astrea, the Aquarine Bay Docks. This port is the only one in the country that still contains ships large enough to withstand a voyage to Miasmia.

Wintervale
Wintervale was built as a place for the royal family to escape the heat of summer in its early years, but quickly became a military base after the Forest of Fiends was established right next to it. Currently, there are more soldiers than civilians in this city, and a feeling of constant dread and misery lingers in its atmosphere, exacerbated by the cold climate of the region.