"I commend you for coming to my office today. I think it is best you get ahead of these recent accusations; such things have a way of getting out of hand, when not addressed directly. Now, I will begin by setting the record, please state your name, age, and home of legal residence."

- Agent of Cultural Purity in Santadoba, Angelo de Castalena

Valenteran Culture

The Eternal Empire

In the Feywilds that Faetari had created, the Eladrin people lived for epochs before the first human age. In that world, time moved non-linearly, as days and weeks compressed into years. In the uncountable days that passed in her realm, some Eladrin became different. Legends say that a foul miasma spread across the land, and infected the heart of all Eladrin who came upon it. The miasma made them mortal, and weighed them down with worries, pressures, and the fear of death. These Eladrin could no longer live in their garden, they had to leave, and seek a better land. These were the Elves who first came to Adra. They banded together and explored the world. The world was dangerous and terrible, but they had powerful magic, and learned how to survive in their new harsh reality. They discovered a giant forest, with trees unlike any from the Feywilds. They named this forest the Blackwood, and those trees Blackwood Trees. The elves forged a realm there that would spread and dominate vast areas of the surface realm. Incredible complexes and architecture filled their lands, and they became masters of magic and craft. However, their elf realm began to rule over countless new Kith races, and with it came the power of conquest and subjugation. Many elves felt this was at odds with their beliefs, that elves should guide the world, not rule it. These new races and peoples needed to rule their own destinies. However, there were other elves who disagreed; these new races were uncouth, barbaric, and stupid. These elves felt that the new races should be purged from their realm, in order to craft a more perfect paradise. These disagreements built, factions formed, and lines were drawn in the sand. Eventually, the elves quarreled in what is called the Last Elvish Civil War, and the realm they had formed collapsed, the races they ruled forming their own nations. The hardline faction migrated to the coast, away from the Blackwood. They built the settlement of Harbinton to establish a formidable fleet, perhaps the first of its scale, and set forth to eventually establish forward bases in a small southern continent. From there, they slowly expanded, eventually slaughtering the native inhabitants of the country, and establishing an eternal empire based on the great rivers of the continent, and lead by the wise and magnanimous Dictadora, chosen from an illustrious group of 100, called the Aspirantes. The settlements of the empire were kept exclusively to the rivers of Valentera, to keep all travel rigorously monitored, so that every applicable tax could be collected, and no criminals or subversives could escape the law. The empire was both utilitarian and minimalist, while retaining god-like levels of splendor and grandeur. Uninterested in the wealth of human kings, the vast gem deposits in the Firebrand Mountains were left untouched, which drew the hunger of the greediest dwarves. Soon the dwarves and elves of Valentera found themselves at odds, and with each long-lived generation, the grievances piled on. The rivalry has reached a near-genocidal fervor, and a war to end all wars looms between the two super powers.

          The Valenterans are an incredibly lawful people. Every possible aspect of life, from birth to death, is regulated, measured, and conducted in accordance with structure. The books of laws, which accord to wards, cities, sector, and empire wide can fill hundreds of books, and a massive army of secretaries, scribes, lawyers, judges, and scholars is required to stay on top of the constantly expanding state bureaucracy. Law to some extent can be a stabilizing force for most, but to a certain extent it becomes a burden on most people. Some Valenterans truly do find it to be a burden, but they would never admit it, because the ultimate sign of a socially upstanding Valenteran is their adherence to the letter of the law. In order to organize such a society, the vast majority of the population live within the river cities, the settlements that line the great rivers of Valentera, and there, most business is conducted, from mercantile trade, to education, even most farming. Most intercity travel is conducted via-river travel, and all such boats must go through the canal locks that bisect each city. As such, Valenterans are cosmopolitans, valuing discussion, trade, and cultural engagement. And yet, strangely, it is also a culture that disvalues individuality, and disdains public defiance or debate. Of course, what stands out most to outsiders about the Valenteran culture is its homogeneity. Valenterans are almost entirely racially homogenous, their only diversity being that between the mostly coastal sea elves and the mostly inland high elves. Valenterans believe that non-elves are not only inferior, but corrupt what could be a more perfect realm, what could be a reflection of the Eladras, with their ignorance, weakness, and impropriety. Rather than some such supremacists, the Valenterans do not wish to rule or enslave these other races, but rather, they wish to purge them for good. Foreigners are only ever tolerated on a temporary or conditional basis, and even other elves, who have assented to the culture of the lessers, are no longer welcome in the empire as brethren. Unlike their ancient ancestors, and their cousins in the Blackwood and elsewhere, the Valenterans do not have exceptional skill with the arcane, although they possess more than most humans still. Rather, the Valenterans focus on their martial prowess, possessing some of the most elite soldiers in the world. As is true of all elves, the Valenterans are exceptional craftsmen, artists, and scholars, though the cultural and social proscriptions against free-thought make all of their arts unimaginative, even if technically exceptional. The authoritarian rigors of their society would seem to be an oppressive weight on the Valenteran people, but most fully accept it, and embrace it as a part of their being, with those that take issue with the culture being ostracized to the margins of society.

          The Valenteran people are most highly concentrated on the massive isle of Valentera. Valenterans are sometimes found as ambassadors in other parts of the world, but almost always remain on the home island. The races of the Valenteran Culture are most predominately elf, more specifically sea elves and high elves. Other races belonging to the culture are almost entirely non-existent. There are a few temples scattered across the Valenteran settlements, but in general, religion is viewed by the Eternal Empire's rulers as conflicting with the supreme god-like authority of the Dictadora - The Dictadora can move heaven and earth, so the gods are not needed in Valentera. Temples to the Elves are errected, merely state-sponsored mockeries of genuine faiths. Most vibrant religious belief in Valentera is practiced in secret. Valenterans tend to be  lawful, diligent, and astute. They also tend to be xenophobic, authoritarian, and reactionary. The dominant language among the Valenterans is Valenteran Elvish.

If you choose the Valenteran Culture, you gain the following:

~A +1 to your Intelligence score~

~Either a -1 to your Wisdom score or a -1 to your Constitution score~

~As a known language, Valenteran Elvish~

~A Sub-Discipline in every knowledge skill on checks relating to Valenteran Culture~

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