Ursus

Long before the nation was called Ursus, it was called the "Hippogryph Empire" ruled by the eponymous Elderly race. But around a thousand years ago, in Terran Year 31, the current Ursine regime, the Ivanovich dynasty, was founded after the Ursi overthrew the Hippogryphs who failed to defend the country from the hordes of the Nightzmoran Khagan. The Ursines' nationalistic pride and ferocity drove them to conquer vast territory in northern Terra, and they sought to expand southward to search for fertile lands that could support its war machine.

During the reign of Ursus' previous emperor Vladimir Ivanovich, the empire's unrestrained expansionism suddenly reached to an unprecedented level through numerous foreign wars and conquests of uninhabited lands. Through his command, Ursus won a grand victory in the Battle of the Four Emperors that annihilated the mighty Gallic Empire, thus fueling its militarism. It waged ten invasions against Kazimierz known as the "Ursus-Kazimierz Wars" which resulted in its occupation of numerous Kazmierzian territories for around a decade. At the same time, Ursus' expedition its northernmost border, dubbed the "Border of Civilization," led to its encounter with the eldritch demons of the Infy Icefield. With its supreme military, the empire acts as a border to contain them and even uses their fragments to build up an invincible army, spearheaded by the "Emperor's Blades."

However, Ursus' expansionism is not without cost. Its immense military put a huge strain on the economy and the population, especially once the spoils or war can no longer sustain further conquests. As the empire expands, it also suffers many defeats, leading to the decrease in morale. One such devastating defeat is the death of some twenty Emperor's Blades in the "Valley of the Setting Sun." Back in its homeland, many citizens begin to be unhappy with the empire's militaristic policies and their own poor living conditions. The Ursine leadership needs a scapegoat to take the blame; this scapegoat has since become the Infected. Such action distracts the Ursines' attention away from the leaders' corruption and accelerates the ongoing persecution of the Infected by passing various laws that encourage it.

A war against Higashi known as the "Bloodpeak Campaign" in the year 1072 is the turning point of the Ursine history. Originally, the war on the east was meant to be a distraction of its inner political conflicts following Emperor Vladimir's illness and the empire being unable to hold its annexed territory from Kazimierz. However, not only Ursus suffered a heavy loss onto Higashi, but also Higashi even successfully invaded Ursus as retaliation. Even Kazimierz took the opportunity to recapture its lost territories amidst the failing conquest in the east during the "Daybreak over the Golden Prairie." Worst of all, Emperor Vladimir died sometime afterwards.

Following the failed invasion of Higashi, Ursus experienced the "Great Rebellion." Nominally started by a drunk soldier who injured a nobleman, it escalated to a civil conflict between two factions: the royalist Fifth Army and the old guards' Sixth Army. In the midst of the chaos, the Fourth Army betrayed the nobles and allied with the royalists. Together, the two divisions completely annihilated the Sixth, bringing a severe blow to the nobles.[13] A large number of high-ranking officers were purged from the Ursine military, weakening their overall national strength. While the Rebellion did not completely purge the old, warmongering aristocracy, its aftermath gave rise to the dominance new generation of nobility who were seen to be more moderate and progressive. It also inspired others to rise up and fight for the rights of the Infected.

Until present days, the conservative nobility, with many of them under some influence of the Deathless Black Snake, continues to lure Ursus on a new warpath, believing that only war will make the empire stronger again while sacrificing the Infected and the common folks. The Chernobog-Lungmen crisis, initiated by Reunion and backed up by the Third Army, is one such conspiracy that aims to drive Ursus into another conflict. Even the current Emperor of Ursus, Fyodor Vladimirovich, is severely constrained in his potential reach despite his pacifism and his wish to end the Infected's plight. On the other hand, the new nobility represented by the State Council with Islam Witte at its helm are working to reform the empire, concentrating on consolidation of the Emperor's power and development of industrial trade across the empire.

Somewhere in the future, it is hinted that Ursus will be embroiled into total chaos likely started by the remnants of Reunion, causing a world-wide conflict.

Chernobog was once an old Ursine nomadic city that was almost torn down. However, in Terran Year 1077, twenty years before the events of the Main Theme, the Boris Group, a small mining company, unearthed a mysterious ancient device named the "Sarcophagus." Upon hearing the news, Count Boris, an Ursine noble and the leader of the mining company, decided to use the Sarcophagus to rebuild Chernobog into an industrial city. His aim was to win over the struggle against the Ursus Imperial Army, which controlled much of the Originium mining in the country. As Chernobog expanded rapidly, many smaller cities began to join Boris' venture not only because of his generosity, but also as a plan to defeat the military. Many scientists were sent to Chernobog to investigate and provide maintenance for the Sarcophagus.

However, the scientist group led by Kal'tsit made a breaking discovery. They discovered that not only the Sarcophagus is indeed very ancient, but also they realized that the device could bring both a potential revolution and chaos to Ursus. Feeling that their interests were threatened, the Ursus Fourth Army, led by Grand Duke Vanya, sent several secret police to investigate the Chernobog scientists. The secret police used brute forces to force Sergei, one of Kal'tsit's students, to reveal the secret. In order to stop their future plans, the Fourth Army massacred the scientists. Ironically, the Count provided shelter for Sergei from the massacre due to his massive contribution to the city.

After the massacre, the Ursus government proclaimed that it was an accident. The parents and friends of those victims were given warning by the secret police to shut up. Meanwhile, Sergei led the surviving scientists to form a new research team four year later (Terran Year 1080). But with their morale strained by the tragedy, both Sergei and Boris could not get new result from the device. The Sarcophagus was eventually sealed off and left forgotten. Meanwhile, the Count, who was benefited by the Sarcophagus' research, had become unharmed by the military and continued the industrialization of Chernobog, making it an important city to Ursus.

As the city of Chernobog industrialized, more and more Infected became unsatisfied with the local government. Consequently, the newly-formed Reunion Movement took the opportunity to start a violent riot in December of Terran Year 1096. On the other hand, the crisis was actually manipulated by the "immortal" Kashchey and his supporters, Grand Duke Baikal, Viscount Kerque, and the Ursus Third Army, as part of revitalizing Ursus' imperialism. The city was once manipulated by Talulah by having its core city set on a collision course onto the Yan city of Lungmen in an attempt to start a war between the two empires, though it will eventually foiled by Rhodes Island.

In the aftermath, the city is basically abandoned by the Ursine government, though there are attempts to rebuild the city.

The Sarcophagus

The Sarcophagus is a very ancient device inside the core city of Chernobog. What makes it unique is its power source's lack of reliance on Originium, instead being powered by unknown means. Even the slightest energy siphoned from the Sarcophagus could power the entire city, making it the core energy source of Chernobog. To the Chernobog scientists, the Sarcophagus's energy source could revolutionize Ursus and greatly reduce the nation's reliance on Originium mining. On the other hand, they also feared that it could easily lead to its weaponization. If successful, Ursus will further expand its imperialism.

Another feature of the Sarcophagus is its mechanism. It could be used to heal a wounded person. However, if an Infected is put inside the Sarcophagus, it will reverse the person into "its ancient form (as in Mephisto's case)." It seems that the Sarcophagus' treatment could only work on the Doctor.