Mankind Breathes First Breath

At which point life becomes sentient may remain open for debate, but the Primians were first to begin the establishment of civilization in Sosaria and had created the first calendar. Humans were now the first of the races to exist in Sosaria. Their numbers rapidly multiplied to the point that their current lifestyle of living off the land became untenable. They began to form settlements throughout the Serenian Continent. These settlements relied heavily on fishing, agriculture and hunting to sustain their people. Although this existence was enough for the majority, several sects opted to migrate to the southernmost coast of the continent while others constructed the first ships (if one could even call them such) in hopes of seeing other lands. They eventually arrived in Lunari, where many remain to this day.

Birth of a Kingdom

A renowned warrior by the name of Solaris Gloria soon garnered the respect and admiration of all around him not only with his boundless charisma, but his long list of feats. Whether it be bandits, wild beasts or even the most ferocious of monsters, he managed to defeat them all and protect the human settlements. In doing so, he reached out to each of those very settlements to broker an agreement. After several meetings between settlement leaders, the Serenian Kingdom was officially born in the year 64 and it claimed absolute rule over the entirety of the continent. Solaris was unanimously supported as the first king construction began on the capital city of Solaris, named in his honor. Many Valens and Holzelves in settlements to the south were not happy with this, however. They formed their own coalition known as the Yewian Confederacy who also claimed control of the continent. By now the city of Solaris was complete and the majority of humans (mainly Primians), whether settled or roaming the continent, quickly began to migrate there in search of security and opportunity.

Continental War

Although having established the Yewian Confederacy, the people of Yew were left with very little land or resources in the southernmost portion of the continent. Even worse, the Serenian Kingdom did not recognize their sovereignty and regularly encroached on their borders and defied their laws. This led to what would be known as "The Continental War" in which the two nations warred for many years. In the beginning, the Yewian Confederacy made rapid progress north. They had overtaken over half the continent after eleven years of brutal fighting. The largest, most fortified and populated cities all remained safe in the far north, however. It was then that Solaris conscripted all adventurers from across the continent and rallied his own forces. Through a series of offensive battles, Solaris managed to drive the Yewian forces further and further southeast until they had almost no where else to go. Solaris then commanded them to flee to the nearby island or remain to work as slaves. All chose to flee, taking over the island in year 165 to establish the new Yewian Republic.

New Legacy

With the death of King Solaris, the kingdom was briefly plunged into disarray. Some regions even considered ceding from the kingdom. Everything changed, however, when his son (Spes Gloria) ascended to the thrown and reigned in all who sought to flee. It took no more than three years for the once young prince to now bring about order and stability. He bolstered the naval power of the kingdom and invested portions of the treasury toward developments in technology, magic and social conditions. Over time, the kingdom became developed and was progressing quickly. It was time to seek out trade elsewhere. King Spes focused all of his efforts on building a mighty navy, along with countless ships for diplomats, adventurers and merchants. No one on the central continent had ever encountered a foreign land aside from Yew, but they were sent out to explore, map and cultivate trade with the world. The Spes Dynasty was truly an age of expansion for Serenum. They became the first economic powerhouse in Sosaria, using their vast trade network and powerful navy to ensure there were no disruptions.

War of the Moon and Sun

Everything seemed peaceful with the newly established kingdoms, as they had all but snuffed out any opposing forces in their respective parts of the world. This changed, however, as Lunari desired more land as such would be needed for the growth of their populations in the harsh arctic north. This, along with irreconcilable religious and cultural differences, led them to invade the Serenian content to the northwest. Many settlements and villages were laid to waste before the Serenian Kingdom could even realize what was going on. All troops and forces were mobilized, with even adventurers being conscripted to aid in the repulsion of the Lunarian invaders. It was a hard-fought battle and even though the Serenian's managed to repel the invading forces with the aid of Anemos and Miesta, who had joined the war to protect their trade interests, they had taken heavy losses in terms of lives, infrastructure and naval prowess. Worse yet, the nation of Shimaguni came to align itself with Lunari.

The Beginnings of a Melting Pot

With booming economic success, the Serenian Kingdom has seen unprecedented influxes of immigrants from across the globe. Along the entirety of the Serenian coast, boats dock daily and build settlements in seemingly unowned territory. Others sneak in through major ports on cargo ships or even immigrate to the land legally. The willingness of these immigrants to work for far lower wages caused many of the native Serenians to lose opportunities for work. Although protests and riots inevitably broke out, they were suppressed by city guards. Despite this, any being who wasn't of the human race (and sometimes anyone who appeared to not be Primian specifically) continued to face frequent harassment, exclusion and even violence due to their appearance. The current king, King Spes, quickly passed a series of decrees. These decrees established the citizenship of anyone with an established residence on the continent. This completely changed the shape of the land. Other decrees soon followed, such as those protecting the freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of religion, freedom against undue holding, arresting, searching or seizing, among other things. Most importantly, however, is that he established the "Two Heads" directive, albeit shortly before his passing of old age in the year 236.

Dawn of the Enlightenment

As it was the dying directive written out, in intricate detail, by the previous king, all of the remaining family and relatives supported its implementation. The core principle was that the Serenian continent would become a land of freedom, equality and justice. The core idea was that all beings capable of rational thought and common decency should be treated as equal to any other. That the king is meant to be as the sun, which casts its rays and warmth over the kingdom. It grants us light so that we might not fear that which is unknown. The role of the king is to inspire joy, comfort, security and enlightenment to his people. Just as important as it may be to win battles, it is equally so to win the hearts and minds of one's people. Yet there is only so much one "Rex" might do. There must be another, who rules the night in absence of the sun. Spes left everything he had discovered of leading, and the world around them, in the form of plentiful books. His son, now 26 years of age, would be ascending to the throne. Thusly, his father's dying wishes were made known. The son (Deus Gloria) expressed his intent to live by that example and find a "Nox" to aid in the management of the ever-growing kingdom.

The Sun's Shadow

The newly appointed Nox, Ater Rosa, found herself tasked with all of the more underhanded affairs the kingdom might need to engage in. Ater Rosa was the individual chosen by all of the top nobles. Even Deus Gloria himself finds her apt for the job. In a matter of years, she managed to establish a functioning espionage sect with ties across the world, various labs for magical experimentation or innovations and a highly obscure, wildly unknown organization operating toward the center of the continent. This facility is suspected to train the kingdom's finest assassins, spies and body guards. The role of the Rex is to fight and lead but the role of the Nox is to do whatever is best for the future of the kingdom, no matter what it calls for. Even the Umbra Core (the secret police force established by Nox Alter) patrols every major city at night to ensure, for certain, that everything and everyone remains safe. Any who seek to victimize, destroy or invade will most likely find themselves face to face with this HIGHLY elite force of soldiers who answer only to the Nox. However, their primary directive is to settle internal disputes, uprising, revolutions or any other form of civil discord. The Rex defends from exterior threats and monsters, while the Nox came to defend from internal threasts unless otherwise needed.

Age of Racial Tension

The year was 295 and a collective of Holzelven tribes had congregated, plotting a surprise attack on the capital of Serenum, Solaris. Their plans were already exposed by Serenian spies, however, and every last member at the meeting was slaughtered by Umbra Core. Not a single soul was spared in the vicious massacre. They then went around the compound to put every last guard who had sided with the conspirators. None of this information was ever disclosed to the public, nor even the Rex himself. The Nox pushed a narrative that a clan of bandits had launched an assault on the wealthy town and the Umbra Core, having been in the region to investigate said bandits, managed to defeat them. Many lives were lost but no one pressed the issue. Nox then implemented several rules to disadvantage those who were not humans but especially those who were Holzelven. Pro-Human and Anti-Holzelven propaganda could be anywhere and everywhere, but the latter far eclipsed the former. Holzelves were dragged from their homes and beaten, many afraid to even come out in public. They were consistently harassed by the Umbra Force and any who so much as considered rising up were summarily put down by the very same. It didn't take long before nearly all of the remaining Holzelves migrated to the Yewian Confederacy, which had by now become the Yewian Republic.

The War of Sosaria (First Sosarian War)

Year 315 saw the beginnings of a global war between all of the world's powers. Sparked by the attack of a Serenian naval fleet by Lunari (who were fed up with the economic sanctions placed on them by the Serenian Kingdom), in Lunarian waters, the war saw Madera and Anemos quickly side with Serenum whereas Miesta and Jazira opted to side with Lunari. In the beginnings, the majority of the fighting done by naval fleets out at sea but eventually, landing forces made it to shore and the siege of cities across Sosaria began. The bloody fighting saw cities conquered, albeit temporarily, and hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians alike accounted for the dead. Countless more were wounded or lost everything. The fighting seemed to take place everywhere but primarily near, and within, major cities. It wasn't until Year 369 that Serenum offered a peace deal to Lunari. All territory would remain the same as it was pre-war but the sanctions placed on them would be removed under the stipulation that Lunari pay reparations for all of the damage they caused on the Serenian continent throughout the war. The infrastructure of not only the cities attacked but the regions altogether had often been destroyed in the wake of their invasion. Lunari begrudgingly agreed and the entire world was finally able to move on and begin reconstruction of all that had been laid to waste.

Era of Reconstruction

With the First Sosarian War now over, the Era of Reconstruction had begun. None of the nations, not even the strongest among them, dared to test the beginnings of such a fragile peace; rather, even the strongest lacked the resources and manpower to do so. Every land was falling on hardships and had suffered heavy losses, yet they persevered. Entire cities were rebuilt bigger and better than ever, navies were upgraded and expanded and the World Peace Council was established by the four major powers: Serenum, Lunari, Madera and Anemos. The aforementioned four were considered Core Members, whereas the other nations were simple members. The only difference between the two being that Core Members, if two agreed, could veto any measure the council attempted to pass with no recourse. Moreover, the Core Members were expected to contribute the most in maintaining peace and stability across Sosaria via the most funding and the most manpower. The nation of Lunari, however, felt shafted by the situation entirely. Serenum was extremely close allies with Anemos and even Madera would show clear favor for the Kingdom of the Sun over that of the Moon. This meant that combatting, or even achieving, a veto in the interest of their kingdom would be nigh impossible; and indeed, Lunari's fears were valid as the three major powers spent decades expanding their own influence while minimizing that of Lunari.

This did, however, have the unintended consequence of the Member states (Shimaguni, Miesta and Jazira with Yew opting to remain neutral and having no interest in the World Peace Council), who also felt unfairly treated by the new world order, to form tight and long-lasting bonds with Lunari. Each of the four nations even came together, in the year 392, to form their own organization: the Four State Alliance, or FSA for short. The alliance, carefully drafted by the leaders of each nation involved, laid out the foundation for not only close and long-term economic ties between the four but even joint military training, the sharing of military information and technology, as well as even a Mutual Defense Pact. The latter meant that should any of the four, or future, signatories find themselves under attack, unprovoked, all other member states would treat it as an attack on they themselves and respond accordingly. This resulted in an initially gradual rise of tensions throughout the world with member states of both sides trying to secure their economic and military interests. By the year 424, tensions finally reached their boiling point when the Serenian First Naval Fleet mistook the naval vessels of Lunari for regional pirates and showed no mercy. There were few survivors and the vessels destroyed were worth countless Sosars. Even if the story of mistaken identity were true, Lunari demanded reparations.

The Flames of War Flicker Once More

Following the naval fiasco between Serenum and Lunari, the Lunarian King immediately inscribed a letter to be sent to the Serenian Royal Family. The letter demanded reparations in the form of Sosars and Lumber, as well as public acknowledgement and apology for their alleged incompetence. The King of Serenum at the time, a man by the name of Cassius Solaris, refused the terms outright and submitted a counteroffer. There would be no public acknowledgement nor apology and the amount of Sosars he offered were a quarter of what Lunari demanded, the amount of lumber was halved. This counteroffer only served to enrage Lunari, led by its current king: Aleksandr Lunari. He immediately mobilized the entirety of the kingdom's navy and gathered the kingdom's most distinguished generals to plot their course. Several months later, Lunarian naval fleets across the seas began to engage any Serenian vessels in sight, mercantile and private ships were not spared but rather boarded, exterminated and all goods (including the ship) taken back to the continent in the north. In a matter of mere weeks, roughly half of the Serenian navy was either sunk or so damaged repairs could take weeks. Serenum responded swiftly by ordering all Serenian vessels, of all natures, to attack Lunarian vessels on sight and to show no mercy.

Privateers particularly took advantage of the situation, exchanging evidence of their feats in destroying navy vessels for vast amounts of Sosars from the Serenian government. Not long after, in the year 426, the first emergency meeting of the World Peace Council was called. There was one issue, however: the nations of Lunari and Shimaguni refused to attend. Those who did, however, were met by a proposition by Serenum: destroy Lunarian naval vessels on sight and sanction all trade with them. While Anemos agreed to the first term and Madera agreed to the second (wishing to remain as neutral as possible in the face of impending war), the remaining nations of Miesta and Jazira rejected the proposals entirely. Regardless, the measures passed and the situation almost immediately spiraled out of control. In the year 448, the nation of Miesta entered the war on the side of Lunari. Jazira followed suit not long after in the year 450. Shimaguni, on the other hand, had already sided with Lunari under the table from the very beginning. By the year 453 the lines were clear, it was the nations of Lunari, Miesta, Jazira and Shimaguni vs the nations of Serenum and Anemos.

The Second Sosarian War Begins

Despite the surprise attack on Serenum's navy, they made rapid use of their numerous ports to quickly produce a navy far larger than anything the kingdom had ever commanded. Taxes were at an all-time high but so was morale among the Serenian people, who were largely ignorant to the finer details of what led to the war or why it was happening. This was the same for essentially every nation's people, however. Despite being vastly outnumbered, Serenum and Anemos were major world powers. While Lunari could stand toe-to-toe with each one individually, the other three of TFA were small and fairly weak nations with the exception of, perhaps, Shimaguni. For what all the aforementioned lacked in naval power, they more than made up for in the overall size and power of their army. Throughout the years of 453-472, nearly all of the battles were purely naval in nature as neither side had managed to place troops on the soil of their enemy. This all changed, however, in the year 473 when the Kingdom of Lunari mobilized the overwhelming majority of their naval assets to dock in Shimaguni and take on as much of the Shimaguni army as their vessels could carry before ferrying them over to the Serenian continent. The FSA believed that if they could only break into the continent and deal enough damage, Anemos would be demoralized and both enemies would surrender. The years 473-475 gave way to a historical event which would forever be remembered as "The Serenian Genocide".

While the Lunarian militants were calm, collected and reasonable, those from Shimaguni were comparable to wild beasts and demons, even. They tore through the continent slaughtering, torturing and even raping any human they came across. Entire settlements, villages and even a major Dwarven city by the name of Kolboldor were razed to the ground. Nothing was left behind beyond countless piles of bodies, charred wood and rubble. Not only did this bring about the opposite of the expected reaction, the pure and unrelenting destruction being wreaked in Serenum led the Maderan Congress to reach a near unanimous consensus: they had a moral obligation to aid Serenum militarily. Anemos and Madera both mustered around half of their naval assets and overall forces, sending them to Serenum where they met with the Royal Army (along with the militia of every city in the kingdom that could provide for one). Together, they pushed back the invading forces until, in the year 480, the FSA pulled out of the continent entirely. With Madera now firmly on the side of Serenum and Anemos, Lunari was soon pressured by Miesta and Jazira to reach a peace agreement; Shimaguni, on the other hand, wished to prolong the war until one side was completely and utterly defeated. After around a decade of skirmishes at sea and minor uprisings in most of the nations involved, a meeting was finally arranged in the year 491 by King Alexei Lunari, son of former King Aleksandr. King Sebastian Solaris, son of former king Cassius, agreed to the meeting. Leaders from all eight nations, save for Yew who had somehow maintained complete neutrality throughout the entire fiasco, attended the year-long meeting.

New Peace, and a New Council

With the World Peace Council, and the FSA alike, both failing entirely to prevent escalation to full-blown, world-wide war, the nations of Sosaria (led primarily be Serenum) sought to redetermine how the council would operate. Each nation would send a single representative, preferably one with the authority to make decisions on the nation's behalf. There would be no distinction between member states this time, as all would have an equal voice and equal vote with no power of veto this time. All measures which received a simple majority of approval (the majority comprising all member states, including those whose representatives may not be present) would be passed and all member states were expected to uphold these measures and agreements. By the year 500, the (now shortened) World Council had been solidified and was faced with its very first task: who was owed what by whom and how things would be handled moving forward. This ended with the nations of Lunari and Shimaguni, in particular, being expected to compensate the most toward Serenum, Anemos and Madera for not only material losses but the countless lives of civilians which were snuffed out or permanently affected. The two nations begrudgingly agreed, however, and the path toward peace seemed inevitable. Each of the nations involved spent decades rebuilding and restructuring in an attempt to mend all of the damage brought about by the war.

By the year 521, the Republic of Yew became the next and final nation to join the World Peace Council (despite the objections of the Serenian representative). This now meant all of Sosaria had reached the consensus to participate in and respect the decisions of the new World Peace Council. At least, that was how things seemed for the time being. Both sides of the now past conflict still harbored hostility and grudges towards one another and mostly opted to only deal with those nations which sided with them in the war. The primary exceptions to this being Miesta, Jazira and Madera who prioritized the value of taking part in a global economy as opposed to the pseudo-isolationist policies of the other nations. By the year 548, it seemed that the current peace would last for some time. The economies of the world were slowly recovering and each of the countries were now focusing on internal development of social programs, infrastructure and other responsibilities while slowly scaling down their military might. The prime exception to this, however, was the nation of Shimaguni. Always eager for battle and war, with an unshakeable fixation on all things militant, they continued to invest in the growth and advancement of their military in secret. Whenever pressed by other member states in the WPC, the Shimagunian representative would simply deny all claims and insist that they too were scaling down their military forces.

Ten Year War (Civil War)

Although the official divine of the Serenian Kingdom had been Archea since its inception, there remained a sizeable portion of the kingdom who believed Malleator was a more worthy divine. This faction primarily consisted of those from the Dwarven races but contained a mix of all manner of races, primarily craftsmen. The problem was not simply that they believed Malleator was the true divine of Serenum, but more so that they faced brutal and relentless persecution. Their shrines and temples were frequently looted, vandalized and destroyed. Their holy sites were desecrated and, at times, even demolished to make room for things the kingdom deemed more important. Worse yet, all of the Dwarven races faced discrimination merely on the assumption they worshipped a divine other than Archea. This series of grievances, which went unaddressed by the sitting King Atticus Solaris finally reached their boiling point in the year 548 when thousands of dwarves flooded the streets surrounding the royal palace in Solaris. They waved signs and engaged in chants disparaging the royal family until, eventually, the City Guard was dispatched to end the protests. Although the stories available conflict, the result is a commonality: countless Dwarves and a few of the City Guard lost their lives. This event came to be referred to as "The Dwarven Massacre" and only served to reinforce their belief that mere protesting and civil disobedience would not be enough. Mare City (a predominately Dwarven city known for its devotion to Malleator), upon receiving word of the incident, immediately gathered as many forces as they could muster and sent out a rallying cry for all who wished to fight in the name of religious freedom. The army amassed by Mare City clashed with the Serenian Army all throughout the Spiralis Plains. Much of the grass now ran crimson with the blood of countless battles and bodies littered the plains as far as the eyes could see.

After the initial clashes and startingly high number of casualties on both sides, the two factions began to fight a more strategic war, engaging in a countless series of skirmishes at strategic points in the region. This conflict would go on for a total of ten years, earning it the name of "The Ten Year War".  In the year 557, King Magnus Solaris ascended to the thrown and would oversee the prolonged civil war for just under on year before meeting with the Jarl of Mare and Head Bishop from the Church of Malleator. After several hours of discussions, the atmosphere often getting tense and out of control, an agreement was finally reached. Mare would be free to recognize Malleator as their official divine. Moreover, a new royal decree was announced to establish the Serenian right to worship any divine of their choice, freely, without fear of harassment or violence; exceptions obviously being those religious practices which may negatively affect others. However, anyone found committing violent acts in the name or persecution of religion, unprovoked, would find themselves on the run from both major factions. In exchange, Mare agreed to drastically reduce the size of their city's militia in exchange for King Cassius's promise that no further persecution of the Malleatists would take place without heavy repercussions for those who might perpetrate such crimes. Despite the Serenian Civil War leaving the dwarven population on the continent dwindling in numbers, this merely led to the mass migration of Dwarven races to Mare City, where they could be amongst their own kind; as well as to replenish the vast numbers of Mareans who had died fighting. By the end of Year 558, Mare City was now home to an overwhelming Dwarven majority; so overwhelming, in fact, that the Dwarven population had more than doubled previous records. With this sudden influx of migrants came a variety of knowledge, skills and unique crafts which led to Mare City quickly becoming an economic powerhouse known for its high quality goods.

Serenian Golden Age

Around the year 558, the Kingdom of Serenum was now seeing countless booms in trade with the other nations of the world. Thanks to their vast reserves and untapped sources of natural and valuable resources, the kingdom saw prosperity the likes of which it had never known before. Among their largest exports were the export of stone, lumber and coal to the Lunarian Kingdom, as they sorely lacked access to such resources themselves and Serenum had an abundance. To the Anemos Confederation, they shipped vast quantities of unrefined manite (lacking the ability to refine it themselves). The Anemos Confederation would then export goods making use of the refined manite back to Serenum at a fair markup. To Madera in the east, Serenum provided vast quantities of steel goods (a relatively cheap but highly effective metal, made better by the advanced skills of the Dwarven population). They were able to mass produce these goods thanks in large part to their vast number of iron deposits; all that was needed then was just the right quantity of carbon, resulting in solid and high-quality steel. In fact, Serenum quickly became renowned throughout Sosaria for the quality of their steel goods; albeit, such goods were largely manufactured in Mare City by the highly skilled Dwarven craftsmen (and women) who called the city home. This quickly led to Mare City becoming an economic powerhouse, capable of matching even Solaris.

Solaris had found its own means of amassing wealth, however, and that was by capitalizing on the large number of gold deposits found all around the capital city to mint Sosars, the value of which was always equal to the value of the gold used to mint it. Sosars had far more value, however, as everyone wanted the global currency but only a select few desired unrefined gold. Moreover, Solaris was able to gather even more affluence by taking advantage of the livestock native, and exclusive, to the Serenian continent. While they could sell the varying qualities of leather and meat to other cities throughout the continent, certain valuable materials they were able to harvest from the livestock (namely fur, ivory and bonemeal) could not only be traded within the kingdom but in abundance to other nations throughout Sosaria as well. Serenian ivory in particular rapidly garnered fame and renown for not only its rarity but its quality. This allowed Solaris to charge higher rates than their competitors, as their ivory was far more durable, pure and even had a certain beauty to it which remained unmatched by the ivory of any other nation. Such economic success was not limited strictly to major cities, however, as the entire kingdom came to benefit from the large flow of wealth. Even the smallest of cities saw their economies grow rapidly merely by trading their own unique resources and goods to those cities which profited most from international trade.

Serenum had, in mere decades, become the number one economic powerhouse in the world and they would not let their new position go to waste or face contention. The large reserves of Sosars the nation had found itself in possession of were largely invested back into the kingdom by King Magnus Solaris, who wished to see the kingdom's prosperity to continue for generations to come. Public schools were constructed in cities across the continent, the poor and homeless were given food, shelter and provided the guidance and education they needed to become functioning members of society. Food banks were constructed where those few who were hungry could stand in line to receive a weekly ration and offers of aid to improve their economic status so that such dependence would no longer be needed. This was not all the king had devised, however, as he would also go on to improve, expand and systemize all roads on the continent in a way that would allow the quick and easy transport of goods, travelers, adventurers and other beings or assets. Other parts of the budget went towards the enforcement of taxes on those who sought to avoid them, the establishment of a centralized set of standards for the City Guards of all Serenian settlements. They would be trained to not only handle the most dangerous of criminals, and other threats, but to also handle civil matters and see to the general welfare of the citizens.

Naturally, all of these programs took up nearly the entirety of the national budget but the man who had come to be known as the Wise King of the Sun knew that such investments would all be worth it. Perhaps not within days, weeks or even months but years later, he knew the trees he'd planted would bear the most delicious of fruits and indeed they did. Refugees and migrants began to risk life and limb travelling from all over the realm in pursuit of what the outside world came to dub "The Serenian Paradise" they had heard so much about. Whether their intent was to get rich, provide for their family, flee civil war or even to simply live in a land where starvation and homelessness were almost unheard of. The Serenian population rapidly grew in population throughout these years, becoming far more diversified as far as nationalities, races, cultures and religions. While this pouring of migrants into Serenum provided the kingdom with a direly needed source of cheap labor thanks to a program which demanded immigrants earn their place as a citizen in the kingdom by essentially working for shelter, food and water until their contributions were complete. While the migrants were not paid in this time, they were treated extremely well and, far more often than not, were now living in conditions which far exceeded those which they'd left behind in their former homeland.

Rise of the Crusaders

While the majority of the kingdom prospered and happily accepted the migrants with open arms, there existed a quickly growing faction amongst the native Serenians: The Crimson Crusaders. Known by the aforementioned due to the crimson flag they carry; the flag is identical to that of the Serenian Flag, aside from the bright red being replaced with a darker crimson and the shield in the center replaced with a couple of crossed swords. Operating in the shadows, their goal was simple: target immigrants via harassment, vandalism, theft and violence. Led by a former bandit leader, the faction consisted predominately of criminals, outcasts and poor Serenians who all felt the immigrants were a drain on the system which would otherwise be able to support them as well. The first instances of hate crimes began in the City of Solaris, with the City Guard quickly apprehending the one responsible and searching his home. They found endless amounts of propaganda pieces such as posters and books, along with several dangerous weapons and even a magic-based explosive which the suspect had apparently intended to detonate at the nearby Immigrant Facility, where registered immigrants worked to earn their citizenship.

That wasn't all, however, as they soon realized various sects of the faction this one lunatic belonged to seemed to exist in nearly every city throughout Sosaria, and their ranks grew quickly. By painting the king as an old fool who had forsaken his people in favor of personal glory, the Crimson Crusaders were able to recruit droves of cult followers willing to do anything to further the cause. "Serenum is for Serenians!" would become their primary motto. Despite their intent to specifically target immigrants, the faction's outliers would frequently target anyone of race outside of the Human races, assuming all inhumans to be immigrants. While City Guards across the continent have cracked down hard and the king himself has made clear his intent to drive them out into the light and cleanse the kingdom of this "evil secret order", as he would refer to it in a speech to crowds of cheering Solarians at the capital. Despite this, wiping out the Crimson Crusaders would be no easy task. Their numbers seemed to grow by the day and their attacks would become bolder and bolder. Even in the present, the Crimson Crusaders have become a large and powerful faction in a mere six years. While the upper echelons remained silent for the time being, everyone on both sides of the brewing conflict knew it was only a matter of time before they make their first major move.