One of the three great empires of the Warune continent, the empire of the frozen mountain peaks Merun with the capital of Sehwa.
History:
They say that the empire was founded as the last of the three by settlers who traveled north from Harktu, and over about four hundred years it expanded from a village through the kingdom to the empire it is now. When Merun was just becoming a kingdom the first king acknowledged that he by himself could not rule the expanding territory so he decided to ask for help from the five wisest men from the kingdom which over time evolved into the Elders, but at the time an elder was a position which held no real political power but that changed with Victor's grandfather whose parents died in a war when he was too young to rule and didn't have any relatives so the elders stepped up to lead the empire until the young prince became old enough to rule himself, and from that point forward the position of elder held considerable political influence
Way of life:
With mines throughout the northern mountain pass trading rare ores and herbs for food that is hard to come by in the cold northern region thus they survive mostly on trade.
Nature:
In Merun you can find creatures commonly found in colder regions and mountains like snow goats or snow owls, but for agricultural purposes, people brought from other regions animals like sheep, cows, and chickens but had to keep them mostly close to the borders of Harktu where the cold is more manageable.
Religion:
Even thou the whole continent has one central religion, every empire prays to mainly one god from the pantheon, and to Merun that god was always the goddess of strength and prosperity Savel also called Norzhe, they say she protects the people of North from freezing with her so-called god's gift which is a material every empire has in its borders that has incredible properties, as such they are used as currency.
Currency
Merton uses as a currency the god's gift crystals, small glass-like crystals made to the shape of rings that can store heat, capabilities depend on rarity, used by people traveling in the northern cold, they are mined in the mountains or found in rocks of the north, and there are always three of these god gifts, their power and how rare they are dictates their value, yellow crystal is the lowest and they have a value of one, purple crystal has the value of ten yellow ones and light blue have the value of hundred yellow crystals. A person can buy an apple in Sahwa for three yellow crystals. They say that light blue crystals can keep you warm even in the harshest of cold winters.
Government:
Merun is ruled by an Emperor with absolute power, the title of emperor is hereditary, inherited by the oldest son or to the more capable one in some cases, and the title is given to the son after the death of the current emperor via the coronation
The elders is a group of five high-ranking bearcats who gained influence and acknowledgment throughout the empire and were chosen by their predecessors as the next elders (and even thou the name suggests it the elders do not need to be above a certain age)
Emperor's assistant is a position to which one is chosen by the emperor or is recommended by the elders and then is chosen by the emperor, this position does not hold political power in and of itself but the emperor can give his assistant temporary authority similar to the emperor