Tantalon
| Tantalon | |
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| (Nation) | |
| Pronunciation | TǍN-tä-län
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| Titles |
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| Alignment | Lawful Evil
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| Capital | Eon, the Eternal City
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| Ruler | Her Imperial Majesty, Queen Liessa Sienne Bellam
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| Government | magocracy
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| Demonym |
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| Adjective | Tantalian
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| Languages | Common, High Tantalian, Draconic
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Tantalon is an elitist magocracy that has survived largely unchanged for millennia. Gradually, through a sort of trickle-out of knowledge and the dilution of the sorcerous bloodlines of their upper class, they are losing their hold on the exclusivity of magic. Mounting tensions between the social classes over the past few hundred years have threatened to set the poorly armed but numerous lower classes against the scarce, but well armed and powerful wizard-lords of the nation. Ongoing legislative (and paramilitary) efforts to keep the population at large from being able to advance in the mystical arts are proving fruitless, and the nation is pressing toward a toxic thaumaturgical civil war.
Historically, Tantalon had used the threat of external destruction by hostile neighboring states to unite the population. This is, however, an increasingly difficult tactic as the world grows more tense, yet peaceful, economic prosperity grows more important than conquest, and it becomes steadily more difficult to goad a reluctant population to view a war of aggression as a necessary act of self-defense.
Magic and Technology
In Talmaron, there is no inherent struggle between magic and technology as is so common in fantasy settings. Magic, however, is not technology and, unlike technology, magic is not only learned, but also inherited as a birthright or granted by deities. As such, it is considerably harder to suppress the rise of magic than technology. The more elaborate the technology, the most elaborate the equipment required to produce it, whereas the more elaborate the magic, the most magical experience is required to use it. One can, through patience, dedication and the testing of powers, eventually learn a spell of disintegration, but producing a firearm simply cannot be done without the correct tools and materials.
Real-World Comparison
Spain at the onset of the Age of Exploration, at the height of its power, but with the tension of pre-revolution France and the humanist air of enlightenment Italy.
Campaign Role
For the elite of Tantalon, the New World could represent anything from a potential source of exotic materials or consumer goods, to a secluded place to practice magic (away from the “background noise” of the Tantalian magical Renaissance and the rising mobs of vicious revolutionaries). For the common people of Tantalon, a revolution seems all but certain. To those without a mind to dirty their hands on the blood of their oppressors, the coldly hostile boarders of their neighbors seem today less welcoming than a virgin land a thousand miles away where a people can begin anew with their culture intact.