History

World Weep Opening History

Following the creation of the World Weep and the loss of some of the nation's top archmages to the Heroes' March, the people of Nex were quickly stricken with further tragedy. Mathesis’ creation of the World Weep and the failure of the Heroes’ March had cost the lives of Nex’s most powerful wizards, and the vengeful Alchemist was quick to press the magocracy’s weakness and wipe the nation entirely off the map in one fell swoop. Nex would become the first of the nations to successfully repel Mathesis’ secondary attacks as their remaining archmagi performed a ritual left behind by their long-absent king. Although the ritual would prove effective, the cost was so great that it nearly spelled the undoing of the nation, as the spell’s unquenchable thirst for the magical energy required to maintain the protections it gave soon ran out of control.

Age of Collapse History — Era of Hunger

The ritual had worked in turning aside Mathesis's alchemical bombing to the south, but the cost of the ritual was one far too great for the successors of the nation, who had already lost their greatest to the First Hero's March. The ritual continued draining magical essence to fuel itself, past the expiration of its original casters. Indeed, the savior of the nation turned quickly into the killer of the nation. Draining more and more of the Nex's people until it fully satisfied the conditions for turning aside such a potent alchemical super weapon. Finally, the draining stopped, but only when there were just a few horrified magi left. Those few still alive after this contingency quickly huddled together in the empty cities for survival. With the world's trade closed down, those still able to create food and water elevated to positions of utmost importance in the Eon after the World Weep. Hamlets within the shells of these abandoned cities, but only a few days after the bombing, the survivors found that the protection magic was still in place. Smaller bombings peppered the cities for thousands of years after. Although these smaller bombings did not reap the toll as lethally as the first had done, the magi of the city were forever tied as batteries for the rituals their forefathers had enacted. 

Age of Renewal History

In the wake of Mathesis's fall, her bombardment of Nex similarly comes to an end, and with it the voracious ritual shielding the nation at the cost of the greater part of its available magic. The energy that had defined the kingdom could once again flow freely, and with that release, powerful magi could begin unsealing the knowledge of their ancestors. The populations built upwards and outwards, their regained magic enabling them to breathe new life into the shells of the cities of old. It is one of the swiftest nations to rebuild itself after the second Heroes’ March, and as soon as there were apprentices to teach there were masters to instruct. Nex’s goal was that magic would come back to life in their footsteps. There is but one rival to this resurgent success, and that is the same rival that Nex has always had at its throat: the eternal kingdom of Geb to the south across the Mana Wastes begins to stir as well, and there are none in positions of leadership who doubt that war shall be upon them much too soon.

Government

The current ruling government of Nex attempts to mirror the councils of archmages of the past, creating what essentially amounts to a Magi-Oligarchy. The council attempts to keep its number at odd numbers to avoid tie votes. The Council of Three rules on sweeping national policy and international affairs and holds unconditional power of vetoing over any decisions by the Nine that would interfere with their own. The curent Council of Three consists of:

• Empian Kisk, a member of the revitalized Arclords of Nex.
• Corpunivus Sigullus, an imperial sorcerer of unprecedented power who served as the last barrier battery of the previous shiedling ritual of the Nexian cities.
• A Wastes-Witch with No Name, whose patron shares many secrets ranging from international espionage to national affairs.

The Council of Nine rules on the affairs between settlements and the various factions within Nex. As long as their rulings do not interfere with those of the three, they are mostly left unregulated by the Three. These positions are typically granted by election from within the council, with many people of differing groups vying for these positions. The current Council of Nine consists of:

• Sigward, the Master Alchemist of Oenopion
• Observer of Threads, a Conrasu oracle from the wastes.
  

Points of Interest

• Three of the major cities of the age of Omens- Khulo, Oenopion, and Quantium, all still stand thanks to the number of magical protections and custodian constructs the greatest minds of yesteryear had painstakingly crafted. Yet these cities all have a hollow aura about them, the sparse populations of Nexian descendants struggling to fill the halls in the few decades since the removal of Mathesis. Many secrets lie dormant and locked away in towering spires, magically trapped palaces, subterranean passageways, and all other manner of places to keep valuables.
• The city of Ecanus has been entirely consumed by a combination of The Awful, a giant mass of consuming flesh, and alchemical mutations from centuries of experimentation by Mathesis. Growth is slow by now, but even centuries after the initial conception of this monstrosity, it still steadily grows feet each year. If left unchecked, it could encroach on the land of Moonlit Junction in the coming months. 
• The Well of Lies has become a rallying point in the wastelands of Nex, supporting a mobile tent city of individuals chasing the various oases and springs that appear in a geometric web around the area of the Well. Members of the Passages of Nex, a group of people who have been born as adults from the scrying pools of the Well of Lies, lead these varying communities, preaching a takeover of the great cities. They claim knowledge in how to do so from the scrying pools they spawned from, using them as a pseudo-leader in decision making, not being aware of the nature of how these scrying pools often lead individuals to disaster. 
• The various wasteland settlements not a part of the Well of Lies community have staked out their own futures in the war-scarred lands. Some practice co-existence, and even symbiosis, with the alchemical and magically twisted flora and fauna, while others espouse harsh policies of might and power over the harsh environment and deadly beasts and plants that crawl between the various settlements.

Organizations Within

• The Council of Three and Nine now sports five members as of the current year, leading a Magi-Oligarchy across the four cities, and sporting one representative from the wastelands. This council has some power over the major infrastructure and factions of the nation, and can raise and direct a standing army in case of a war, which certain members continually push for against the nation of Geb.
• The Passages of Nex are a group of individuals of all manner of ancestry and creed who lead tent towns and other factions centered around the Well of Lies. They claim to speak on Nex's behalf and advocate for increased attacks and skirmishes against the cities of Nex, claiming the cities have lost the Will and Mandates of the long-lost magi king.
• The Children of the Wastes are a group of nature-inclined individuals who preach symbiosis and other peaceful policies in interacting with the flora and fauna of the wastelands. They often disagree with the other groups of Nex, and are against the practices and philosophies of many other groups who constantly attempt to 'reclaim' the wastes.
• The Disciples of Scars are a group of warriors of the Waste who believe that the wastes need to be transformed into a habitable and fruitful space for the humanoids of Nex, not shying away from battle if necessary to reclaim the Wastes from the Flora and Fauna. They are often at odds with the other factions, practicing a policy of intolerance towards the controlling hand of the cities, the duplicitous preaching of the Passages, and the passivity of the Children of the Wastes.
• The Bontu are several powerful spellcasters bound and connected to the land, becoming the avatars of the various landscape features of Nex through several rituals. Although often connected to the above organizations, some of these Bontu represent other interests or groups. These Bontu have the limited ability to create new instances of Ghoran sparks of life, and have slowly begun increasing the population of this ancestry.  

Major Conflicts

• 'The Expeditions' are a series of conflicts that the Cities of Nex, and to a lesser extent the settlements of the Wastelands, have in clearing out the wastelands of alchemical experiments, mutated flora and fauna, and other dangers of the Wastes. There have been many expeditions, some state-run, some led by wealthy individuals or houses, and others by bands of the community. The naming and numbering of these expeditions are sometimes contradictory and often hold differing purposes. Some are for specific objectives like known fresh-water springs, some to clear out hazardous phenomena, like rapidly spreading fungi,  and others to clear space outside the city for a multitude of purposes.
• The 'Cold Wars of the Wastes' are several skirmishes that supposedly occur between the various settlements of the Wastes and the Cities of Nex. Some are officially recognized, like the First War of the Passages, while others are not recognized or even censored by various groups, like the successful 'Staking of the Scars'.
• Some initial skirmishes have been reported by border settlements against scouting forces of the nation of Geb. These skirmishes are relatively new, and have seen the city providing the various settlements with some garrisons and other reinforcements, which have created a bubbling tension between the personalities of the Magi of the City and the denizens of the Wastes.

Events in the Age of Renewal

• 'The Opening of the Passages' has allowed teleportation travel between the cities and ushered a new age of cosmopolitan revival amongst the Magi of the Cities, who no longer have to fear the travel between dangers of the wastes to visit each other. This event rapidly increased the consolidation of political power amongst the Magi of the cities, who already held a previously large amount due to their necessity in the infrastructure of the nation.
• 'The Bonding of the Bontu' was an event that took place around fourty years after the fall of Mathesis, in which Magi of the Wastelands developed rituals, akin to that of their distant neighbors of Holomog, to bond with the flora and fauna of the wastes. These Bontu toe the line between individuals and avatars of their stretch of the landscape of Nex, with the ability to actively direct and dictate how the earth, water, air, and life within the land operate. This has created a new ecosystem in some areas where humanoids have been able to live in an elevated state of symbiosis with nature. This process is extremely difficult, time-consuming, and limited in scope and space, and so a powerful Magi who develops to the level of a Bontu can usually only bond to one patch of land in their lifetime.
• 'The Sputtering of the Fleshforges' is an event where the ancient artifacts of Nex, the Fleshforges, began showing signs of coming back to life upon the first Shardstorm in the manawastes. These awakenings have been inconsistent and often short-lived. No one yet knows the meaning or implications of the awakening.

Other notable changes from the past Golarion

The general population and characteristics of inhabitants mirror the past Golarion. Due to the nature of operating from existing city-states of old, they more than most other nations stick to general naming conventions of the past world, wearing their histories with pride as they uncover more and more locked-away treasures and secrets in the various towers and basements of their major cities.