ABOUT THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA

AFRICA:

During the World War of men that eventually brought about the Great Conflagration, Africa was an isolated theatre where decisive battles were fought. With the Children of Terra attacking the whole of humanity at once, the continent of Africa became cut off from the other nations that interjected themselves in the continent's rule. Without outside influence, the people of Africa were left to fend for themselves as best they could. The Children of Terra followed the same strategy used the world over. Major cities and industrial complexes were targeted first to destroy the country's population and means of manufacturing. The Courts chose to ignore the scattered villages and outlying populations as inconsequential, but this ultimately proved to be a costly mistake.

From those ignored people rose a ruthless warlord, the blood descendant of a great Zulu king, who united the survivors of the initial attack under one banner, and waged a vicious war of attrition. Using unconventional tactics against the Children of Terra, Africa's resistance managed to gain power and successfully fight their enemy and carve out a new foothold in the continent. Over the years their forces grew, causing both sides to stake out territory, and fortify themselves for a long drawn out war. After two centuries of war and magic's rediscovery the landscape of Africa has become a very different place. The southern portion of the continent is controlled by the Children of Terra, who still cling to their military ways after years of bloodshed, while trying to abide by the peace ordered by the ruling Courts. Central Africa is controlled by the Zulu Empire, a fearsome military state born from the humans who fought their way back from genocide. The northern portion of Africa, even though an inhospitable desert, is ruled by the Lords of the Grave who have devoted themselves to the dark secrets of Egypt's past.


The Zulu Empire:

The Zulu Empire reached their first height during the 1800's under the blood thirsty reign of Shaka, a military genius who forced the evolution of warfare in Africa. A child of Zulu prophecy, Shaka campaigned and conquered to forge a military empire with such skill that historians have placed him on the level of an Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan. The Empire eventually fell to the superior technology of the British empire's army, but not before a war that lasted 60 years after Shaka's death. The blood of prophecy survived in Shaka's descendents who held to their ancestors teachings even after the dissolution of his empire. Generation after generation his descendents trained to become warriors, while holding to the prophecy that the Zulu were destined to rise again.

Ingwezulu, the many times great grandson of Shaka, saw the devastating attack on the hegemony that caused his people so much strife, as a sign that the time had come. He gathered the people that were brave enough to take up arms, started a resistance, and fought back. Each successful attack drew more fighters to him: regular men and women, the remnants of the French foreign legion stationed in Africa, other warlords, and people that were once his enemy. Ingwezulu united them as one people with one cause saying, 'The attack had burned away all that was before. They were the dead rising from the ashes of the past, reborn as the true sons and daughters of the land. They were Zulu, the living spears of vengeance.' The combination of Ingwezulu's charisma, leadership, and military prowess turned all of his followers into true believers, zealots that feared nothing.

Because the Fey armies destroyed most of the industrial complexes, the Zulu armies were forced to adopt their enemies' way of fighting. To learn the Children's secretes the Zulu would take captives from every attack, and torture them for information. With these unwilling teachers the Zulu Sangoma (proper name of native healers, diviners, and shamans) learned the secrets of magic, giving rise to not only an order of destructive magic users, but the fearsome protectors that were devoted to them: The Sangoma and the Mvikile.

Over the course of two war torn centuries the Zulu nation grew in number and power, staked out and fortified territory of their own in Central Africa, and Ingwezulu passed his skills and crusade on to his descendants. The warrior nation continued to fight for its new homeland and old vengeance until the Enlightenment brought an end to the fighting. Though still willing to fight after the devastation, but the Ruling Courts of Terra's Children offered them peace and an end to the fighting. Over the ten years following the Enlightenment, the Zulu Empire rebuilt its cities, while the Sangoma, inspired by the unstable Rift activity, elevated their Summoning magic to new heights.


The Fey Court's of Africa:

Even though separated from the central up of the Courts of Light and Shadow by an ocean, the Fey Court's of Africa still follow their dictates and edicts as Law Demands. The constructs of society however, have evolved differently because of the circumstances that they endured during the war. Being forced to entrench themselves in unfamiliar lands to fend off a formless enemy with no standing army, their military methods influenced their everyday society. The various fey races fought in segregated companies instead of mixing the races into joint forces. Military encampments became settlements and eventually cities, but the segregation persisted because each race wished to preserve its own culture while breeding to replenish their ranks.

Even though the Enlightenment not only ended the war, but destroyed most of the settlements that had been built, it did not remove the two hundred years of wartime socialization. The various Fey races chose to rebuild their cities separate from one another, but close enough to share strength and lend assistance should war break out once more. This choice of building gave birth to a central location between all the various settlements, where the cultures meet to interact with one another for matters of Court and mediation.


The Pharaohcies of Egypt:

After the start of the Great War and the revelation that the myths and legends of old bore truth, the inhabitants of Egypt experienced a resurgence of old faiths. Devotees and initiates into the old ways began pouring through and deciphering ancient documents, reading their contents with open minds. What they uncovered were millennia worth of information written by a culture fascinated with bridging the gap between life and death. Artifacts, rites, and spells devoted to the dark magics of life and death became their guide to a new future.

The practitioners of these dark arts quickly realized the power that they wielded, and gave in to their human greed and lust for power. This hunger did not stop at magic, but extended into politics, driving the Magic Users to seize control of Egypt's government. At first they used their powers to fight for survival against the Fey armies that attacked them, but soon the battlefield became a proving grounds for their magic and creations. Magic users began to defile the dead by reanimating corpses to fight their battles, but their twisted creativity did not stop there, causing them to create all manner of abominations. These atrocities were what earned the Egyptian magic users the title, Lords of the Grave, and caused them to be shunned by Fey and Human alike.

When the Enlightenment occurred the Lords of the Grave were unmoved by the tragedy that befell the world. With peace declared and the fighting stopped, Egypt was free to devote its energies to delving deeper into the secrets between life and death. Using their hordes of undead servants, the Lords of the Grave rebuilt their cities, and continue to fall deeper into darkness. With no common foe to unite them, the Mages of Egypt have fragmented among themselves creating numerous city states that litter the northern portion of the African Continent. Each one reigns supreme over the people in their land, and follow their own personal whims. Because of this fragmentation, the self styled pharaohs fight among themselves for land, artifacts, and power.