Grevalon

Grevalon, officially the Principality of Grevalon, is a magoprincipality in the eastern continent of Laudrin. Its existence is exclusive to the Aeon of the Champion story series, forming one of the Seven Kingdoms that split from the empire of Anthromor - nominally in -4,000, and officially in -1,349.

A small, magocratic city-state, its capital - and largest city - is Magecrown, the seat of power for the nation's monarchy and ruling mage council.

History
Originally one of seven kingdoms within Anthromor, Grevalon's magi led the way in the field of arcane exploration and exploitation, and were the only mages to have obtained a royal permit from the King himself to conduct experiments on newly-discovered arcane substances. The Piltshire Disaster threw these privileges into question, and the resulting grassroots movement (as well as shadier forces) led to a series of stringent regulations being passed onto the client states of Anthromor.

After struggling tirelessly against the increasingly arbitrarily and paranoid regulations on magic by Anthromor, Grevalon officially declared its independence from the ailing empire in January -1,349, becoming one of the first to do so. Its magi, travelling west, hoped to use their powers with greater freedom and also to create a settlement on which the love of magic study was valued and curated at all junctures. Eventually, the city-state became famous for its high-calibre spellcasters, and these magicians gained powerful socioeconomic influence - declaring themselves Magelords. The citizens of Grevalon initally tolerated their exploits, and established a thriving economy under the protection of their benevolent nobles.

The trouble started when the Magelords became over-ambitious. Seeing that their current activities were making them powerful, they conducted further research along those lines - and eventually discovered the entire city had been built over an arcanum deposit. The farming of his rare element immediately began, and, against better judgement, another arcanum reactor plant was built in the settlement of Pierpoint in -1,159. Subsequent petitions to postpone its opening failed, and the reactor was powered on. Unfortunately, it suffered the same faults as the previous reactor - Scyther - and melted down. This led to a general uprising against magic, led by the peasantry themselves, and later infiltrated by the Nightwatch. As the uprising gained traction, a series of magophobic attacks occurred in the once-crimeless city. This led to a schism in the anti-magic movement, so some of the original magophobes founded the Protector's Covenant, then headed eastwards and established their own realm - the Protectorate of Commoncrown. There, they resolved to live without magic and the arcane, in solitude forever. The means of production were owned communally, and there was no ruling class of any sort. Consequently, the peasants ignored any orders to cease and desist, leading to a civil war between the Protectorate and the Magelords, between years -1,155 and -1,150. The Protectorate were defeated, but their boldness shocked the Magelords, who began the process of de-classing their society almost immediately. The Five Year Miracle followed, resulting in a wave of meritocratic reform in Grevalon that involved the foundation of the Aeht Dom, its non-magic wing the Council of Commons, as well as the Deposits to catalogue spells, and the Laboratories for closed-circuit experimentation. During this time the office of Head of State was also created, with the Council of Seven - the Aeht Dom high council - voting on the new Prince/Princess of Grevalon. This rank, far from having true power, was intended to promote a PR-master who would engage with the public while the mages made policy. For over 500 years, House Atherton has held Magecrown.

In time, the Aeht Dom, composed of the Council of Arcanists and Council of Commons, as well as The Seven, came to be the ruling authority in Grevalon. The city-state, under its direction, became a beautiful settlement of towering spires, glistening streets and extremely-talented magi. This naturally drew some high elves towards the settlement, sending their sons and daughters off to the prestigious magic schools in the state, having passed their aptitude tests.

During the First Earth War, Grevalon was slated towards a policy of neutrality and non-involvement, though it did give weak support towards the Dinith. This was defied in spectacular fashion by Kaarlo Atherton, Prince of Grevalon, who felt obliged to assist the defenders in their war with the orcs and dark ogres of Prarvis. Thus, he obtained special permission from Archmage Lamont Spellthorne, leader of The Seven, to rally the Knights of Magecrown and sail south towards the Kingdom of Phoenixgarde, in order to see off Vez'nan and Il'grogg's invasion. Unbeknownst to him, he had been bewitched by Morgana Le Fey, a vengeful acolyte and former member of The  Seven who had been expelled for evocation. Communicating with her demonic associates, Morgana ensured Kaarlo would not be returning; his death at the age of 25 resulted in an outpouring of grief across the Eastern Kingdoms. Kaarlo's death also led to a major power vacuum within Grevalon, quickly filled by his 18-year-old sister, Silana, when she was appointed Princess consort by Archmage Spellthorne.