The Nations of Ostaria
When the long night ended, four lords climbed a stone at dawn and swore in blood: each crown would keep its own. From that oath, the four nations of Ostaria were born.
That oath is no longer enough. The crowns are weary, and every lord raises a fort of their own and looks for loyalty in the clan, not in blood.
When you start, you pick a nation. Your nation gives you a way to play; your clan gives you allies, and a clan has room for lords of every nation.
Sylvar
People: elves · Hour: dawn · Color: moss
We saw you coming three days ago.
They live beneath trees older than the crowns. Their forest has no walls, yet no one enters without their knowing. They speak softly, as if they already knew you, and never raise their voices. To the Sylvar, knowing is the only defense that never breaks.
In the game: the best spies and saboteurs in Ostaria, and a solid defense. You play to see first and strike where it hurts most.
For you if you like knowing more than your rival before you make a move.
Veylan
People: humans · Hour: morning · Color: delta
Let the gold grow. Then, the sword.
A league of cities at the mouth of the great river, ruled by its merchant houses. They don't conquer: they buy, they lend and they hire, scholars and masters included. They are courteous, precise, and never raise their voices, because they never need to.
In the game: more income and cheaper technology. You play to grow faster than your neighbors.
For you if you'd rather fill a war chest before you go to war.
Durnhold
People: dwarves · Hour: noon · Color: steel
The mountain is in no hurry.
A kingdom carved into the heart of the mountain, a people of engineers who raise walls that outlast their builders. They tell their history in stones laid, not battles fought. To them, a wall is a promise that never tires.
In the game: the toughest defense in Ostaria and a little more income. You play to make attacking you expensive.
For you if you like building something nobody can afford to touch.
Ashkar
People: orcs · Hour: dusk · Color: ember
What no one defends, we share.
Nomad clans of the ash lands. What they have, they took; and what they take, they share around the fire. A captive who is healed and shares their fire is no longer an enemy. They are Ashkar.
In the game: more attack and more loot, and the captives from your victories can join your army. You play to live off what others own.
For you if the sweetest gold is the gold you take from someone else.
The Varkani
People: from all four · Hour: night · Color: indigo
No crown kept us. The night keeps us.
A generation ago, hunger came. The four crowns shut their gates to save the grain of those inside, and left the Marches outside: the borderlands where dwarven miners, human river-folk, elven lookouts and orcish herders lived side by side. That night, the survivors gathered around the same fire and swore themselves to the night. They marked their skin with the oath, and the mark glows in the dark.
Years later, they marched on the gates that had been shut against them. That uprising was called Varkan. It was crushed, but not erased.
In the game: the Varkani can't be chosen. Their camps still stand, scattered across Ostaria, and they are the enemy you attack when there's no rival your size: they give your soldiers experience.
No one knows what they are waiting for.
Each nation's exact numbers are still being tuned. Here's the style; the numbers will follow once they're settled.
Sign up for early access