Domain Summary
The Empyrean Unification is comprised of individual city-states scattered along the East Coast. Though often at odds with Dischordia’s chaotic tendencies, due to its somewhat oppressive focus on structure and order, they protect the last bastion of pure humanity on the continent. Contrary to their rigid facade, however, those of the Unification are dedicated to developing a unified magical theory transcending the divisions of paradigm, as well as species.
Life in the Domain
Life varies drastically from one Unification city to the next. Each individual territory has complete autonomy to live as they see fit. Most, though, strive towards some variation on a Utopian vision. Jacksonville is a city of uniformity and communal living. Roswell looks to the stars to encourage wonder among its citizens. Neuropolis runs like clockwork, with every citizen fulfilling a vital place and purpose. Many outside the domain chafe at the rigid order, but those within take comfort in it.
Dominant Races
Mages and Vampires, some Wraiths
Paradigm: The domain is one of order and science, but there is a strong emphasis on studying all Paradigms to formulate a Unified Magical Theory. As a result, all paradigms are equally valid here, and Orphans are great in number due to the fluidity of Paradigm. The structure and order of the domain encourages Technocratic conventions and the technomantic Traditions (Virtual Adepts and Etherites), as well as Akashics, Celestial Chorus, Euthanatos, and Hermetics.
Costuming Archetypes
Academic, Business Cultist, Man In Black, Judge Dredd, SpecOps Soldier, Utopian Scientist
Politics & NPCs
The feudal oaths of the Unification are largely a formality, as the domain operates primarily on the basis of a meritocracy: Those who demonstrate an ability to lead are given great leeway and autonomy in running their personal domains however they see fit. Despite this individual freedom, the domain is heavily organized and bureaucratic, with hierarchical oversight within the capital of Neuropolis.
---Loading Oaths---
Umbral Realms
- Low Umbra - Shroud 6 (In Philadelphia - Shroud 3, In Neuropolis - Shroud 8)
- Middle Umbra - Gauntlet 8 (CyberRealm - Gauntlet 3, Pattern Web - Gauntlet 1, Digital Web - Gauntlet 2)
- Dreaming - Mists 2 (Far Dreaming - Mists 6, Deep Dreaming - Mists 9) / Banality 8 (Neuropolis - Banality 6)
- High Umbra - Periphery 4
Historical Information
Contract of Unification
With the outbreak of the Third World War, the lords knew that mankind teetered on the brink of extinction. They felt that mankind's own volatile nature could no longer be risked. During the war of the dead, Children of Lilith met in a secret conclave, in a place kept well-hidden for centuries. Each Clan sent ambassadors to create a new government. They intended to turn the tide in the growing global chaos, and combat the armies from the East. Upon the end of the summit, the delegates signed the Treaty of Unification.
Read more: (Shroud Fall) Unification
The Treaty bound many Vampire lords and Cities into this pact through ancient magics. The ambassadors gave their lives to fuel the magic. Their sacrifice brought the end of strife between these cities, allowing civilization to be born anew. It created a new arm of the law: the Sanctum. Their sole task was to seek out and eradicate the true source of man's inhumanity - his ability to feel. They took upon themselves the burden of not feeling. They developed Ecloll, the great nepenthe, Salve and Salvation. This drug saved humanity from pathos, sorrow, the deep chasms of melancholy and hate. With it, they anesthetized grief, annihilated jealousy, and obliterated rage. The Unification Proclamation built itself on civility and restraint, law and order.
It held itself as a last bastion of order in Balor's chaotic kingdom. They focused on the preservation of mankind and their greater united purpose. It diminished the role of the individual and subdued emotions to preserve their sanity. The Sanctum’s unfeeling judges ruthlessly enforced the laws of the Treaty.
The Unification Reputation
The Unification Proclamation had the dubious distinction of being one of the most reviled domains in Dischordia. Those of other domains had many reasons to distrust this domain and its loyalties.
Read more: (Foundation Era) Unification
Hal Morgan, the Demon of War, sat as the Domain's Lord. Among the landmarks of his domain was a spiral portal into the Abyss of Hell, itself. A group of questionable nobles represented them at court. They counted abyssal and infernalist vampires and ruthless Sanctom executioners among their delegation. The domain as a whole was bound by the Contract of Unification. This mysterious document bound them to the will of Lazarus' Council of Stars, enemies to Dischordia.
Nobles from every domain feared and despised the Sanctum. Their ruthless enforcement of the Unification's laws was brutal. They punished even minor transgressions with death by incineration. Many questioned if such rigid and unwavering order had a place within Dischordia.
Dischordia's First War
Nobles of the Society of Deus and Unification Proclamation were frequent courtly adversaries. Aiden Shaw, a Sage of Deus, and Nada, an Abyssal vampire of Unification often opposed one another. Their personal hatred dragged their two domains into a war.
Read more: (Foundation Era) Dischordia's First War
Hal Morgan, Demon of War and lord of Unification, was only too eager to fuel this fire. He was the first to declare war, leading his soldiers to their deaths against his enemies. For each soldier that fell, on either side of the conflict, contributed to his legend and his power. Nada’s true loyalties emerged when he broke his oaths to Dischordia to join with Nul and the Kingdom of Aether.
The Fall of Black Bart and the Rise of Hal Morgan
The Unification struggled to represent itself well at court, and began to falter. Its lord, Hal Morgan, drew attention of assassins and infiltrators seeking to usurp his failing domain. With the capture of Black Bart during the War of Nightmares, he saw an opportunity to evade his enemies.
Read more: (Foundation Era) Fall of Black Bart and the Rise of Hal Morgan
Hal offered to free Bart from his prison if the Aranta-Shadur council accept him as their Warlord. When they accepted his proposal, Hal freed Bart from his captivity... by killing him. Nobles of Bermuda and the Devil's Triangle began to revere Bart as the God of the Sea. They constructed churches along the coast in every domain they could reach.
Hal Morgan abandoned the Unification to its fate, and assumed his role as Warlord of Aranta. His plan had put the Kingdom's unofficial airforce and navy in the hands of the Demon of War. His rapid departure from the Unification left a power vacuum. Several factions struggled to claim and fill his seat during the Surveyor's Era.
A New Unification, A New Sanctum
Hal Morgan's departure left Unification's seat of power vacant for centuries. As the Surveyor's Court convened, so too did the struggle for control over the domain. While other domains sized up the domain for conquest, it faced its own internal struggles. Unification was rife with infighting, backstabbing, and spies from Lazarus’ Empire. Various factions within the domain struggled for control.
Read more: (Surveyor's Court) Unification
Dietrich Mercer led one of the factions vying for control. He discovered that infernalist magic empowered the Treaty of Unification. He and his vassal, Dorian Osbourne, were able to turn this knowledge to their advantage. By sharing this finding with the New Faith Inquisition, they gained a powerful ally. The backing of the Sanctum tilted the balance of power further in their favor. Osbourne, a Sanctum Magistrate, brought to bear the strength of the law to weaken their rivals. Through sabotage and alliances, their coup was successful, and they destroyed the Contract.
But, Unification was wholly occupied with their internal struggles. They were unable to fulfill their responsibility as surveyors. Their punishment, at the Voice's decree, was to fold into another domain. Yet this placed them in a position to decide the victor of the Surveyor's challenge. Whichever domain gained the most territory would be the victor. The contest was close between Aranta-Shadur and Empyrean Dysambigua. Whichever domain gained the Unification would gain the advantage. After extensive negotiations, Mercer choose to join the Empyrean Dysambigua. Their Inquisitors had aided his victory to claim the Unification. Together they purged the Unification of demonic influence. The domain embarked on a new path of enlightenment, reason, and the last safe haven of humanity.
This struggle reshaped not only that domain, but the Sanctum as well. In recognition for their aid, Dorian persuaded the Voice of Balor to elevate the Sanctum to the position of Imperial Magistrates. There, they would serve the entirety of the kingdom of Dischordia as they had the Unification. As ruthless as they were, their efficiency and effectiveness were undeniable.
War of Aether
After the departure of Hal Morgan, Miami was no longer a Unification city. Still, its loss during the early days of the War of Aether would come to haunt them. The Abyssal portal of Miami poured forth untold darkness. The Aether soon spread to Orlando and much of the Unification territory in Florida. Without Hal Morgan to hold the spiral, darkness swallowed the lower peninsula.
Read more: (War of Aether) Unification
Those territories were among the most brutal battlefields of the War of Aether. Miami served as a staging ground for the Aether's forces. Nada, the traitorous Unification noble, possessed detailed knowledge of his targets. Warriors of the Invictus Imperium of Vancouver spilled much of their blood to protect the Unification. Without their aid, the Aether might well have claimed the entire southeast. Still, they gained a victory against Dischordia with the fall of Miami and Orlando. The Abyssal general, Nada, continues to watch over these territories
A Contract Broken
With the destruction of the Contract of Unification, Lazarus’ Kingdom fell into a period of chaos. Nul capitalized on this opportunity, striking against Europe as he had against Dischordia. Recognizing their common enemy, nobles of Unification negotiated an alliance of necessity.
Read more: (War of Aether) Unification Contract Broken
Many wraiths fell to their own darker halves. Only hell-divers and castigators would withstand them. Giovanni and Cappadocian necromancers stemmed the tide of Nul’s Spectres. Lasombra Abyss Mystics twisted the darkness to their own ends. Despite heavy losses, the Kingdom of Lazarus was able to fight to a stalemate.
Prince Mercer of the Empyrean Unification rekindled diplomacy with Lazarus' Kingdom. By acknowledging the greater threat of Aether, he was able to negotiate a truce with the Council of Stars. Though both sides had agreed to the truce, neither side trusted the other. An anonymous gift, the head of Gabriel De'Angelo, helped to ensure the success of the agreement. Not quite allies, but no longer enemies, the two kingdoms worked together against the Aether. And, once the Aether withdrew from the battlefield, they helped one another rebuild."
A Shattered Peace
Dischordia, in attempting to thwart a threat to the world, inadvertently broke the delicate truce. Lazarus, Balor's long-time enemy and the ruler of Europe, declared war upon Dischordia in retaliation. This war, which would rage for a year, would come to be known as the War of Maelstrom's Rebuke.
Read more: (Court of Empires) A Shattered Peace
Confronted by a common enemy, Balor and Lazarus agreed to put aside their differences. For the two decades of the War of Aether, the two kingdoms put significant effort into diplomacy. They began to resolve centuries of turmoil, until a series of incidents drew them back into chaos. Alyosha Buljiev, the Tzimisce Prince of Carpathia, stood at the center of these plots.
Dischordia's Ambassador, Dorian Osbourne, uncovered rumors of a dark ritual Buljiev was planning. He investigated the matter with the aid of the Hierophant, Zachariah Baldric. They discovered legends that the ritual would end the world, and informed their lord. High Pontiff Radu Bistri saw a chance to prevent the ritual, dispose of a rival, and reclaim his homeland.
Bistri coordinated several domains in a three-pronged attack to achieve his goals. On the eve of the Samhain holiday, Bistri himself invaded Odessa. Though he claimed it was to draw Buljiev's army from defense of the ritual, he hoped to gain a foothold in Carpathia. The Hierophant led an arcane counterspell, to unweave the magic of the ritual. Finally, a covert team infiltrated Buljiev's castle with the mission of assassinating him.
Bistri's attack was successful, and he laid claim to Odessa. The Hierophant's counter-ritual succeeded in thwarting Buljiev's ritual. But the covert team failed in their task. His ritual in tatters, Buljiev escaped the attempt on his life. A formidable abomination known as Gangir nearly destroyed the would-be assassins. Lazarus declared war on Dischordia in response to this unprovoked attack. In retaliation for their aggression, Lazarus' response was swift and devastating. He launched a crippling nuclear strike against several Dischordian domains. Each target chosen would be a threat in the conflict to come.
War of Maelstrom's Rebuke
One of Lazarus' first targets was the Empyrean Unification capitol city of Neuropolis. It had once been bound to Lazarus' Kingdom by the Treaty of Unification. It was home to Dorian Osbourne, Dischordia's ambassador to Europe. Prince Dietrich Mercer of Unification was one of Empyrean's foremost espionage directors. Neuropolis housed considerable valuable intelligence against Lazarus and his kingdom.
Read more: (War of Maelstrom's Rebuke; Unification)
One of four Relic nuclear warheads struck, leaving a radioactive crater where the shining city had once stood. The loss of the city, and the human population, devastated the morale of the Unification. Osbourne sought to preserve the other home he had built during his time as Ambassador. He approached Prince Critias of Greece, and negotiated a deal. He would claim Athens on behalf of Dischordia. In doing so, he would ensure that no other Dischordian domain would attack the valued city. In exchange, Critias would ensure that Lazarus couldn't use it to stage his legions. The deal kept both Dischordian and Lazarean forces out of Greece for the dureation of the war.
The Grim Legion's ghost fleet launched coordinated strikes against Dischordia's east coast. Unification, still reeling from the loss of their capitol, was overrun by legionnaires. Survivors of the destruction fled as refugees to the next city, with wraiths in pursuit. The New Faith's northeastern coastal cities fell to naval bombardment in a matter of days. The Legion made landfall and an infantry skirmish ensued. Further inland, the New Faith reinforced their defenses. The siege lasted for months, as more Legion reinforcements arrived. They struck at other domains. The Grim Legion marched on Appalachia, bringing several cities to their knees. None were able to prevent the Legion from marching through their northern mountains. They struck deep into Aranta-Shadur and to the Second City. The Legion marched on Dischordia with impunity. No domain could muster a strong defense to turn aside their assaults. The chances of Lazarus’ victory grew.

The Sublime Cataclysm
The tides of the war began to turn to their enemy’s favor. The Dischordian lords of prepared a spectacular attack to bring a swift end to the conflict. Sultan Suleiman, a master of spirit magic, led the largest ritual the kingdom had ever seen. New Faith ritualists, students of the Arcane Academy, and a million occultists gathered from all domains aided him. The sky itself bled with the power they summoned. Chunks torn from the spirit realms themselves bombarded Lazarus’ Empire. As each realm struck, it laid waste to thousands of miles of Lazarus' territory. Millions perished in an instant, as the realms destroyed immense swaths of land.
Read more: (Sublime Cataclysm cont.; Unification)
A fragment of the ritual's power, was diverted to another purpose. A year prior, Lazarus' bomb appeared to destroy the Unification capitol of Neuropolis. In actuality, Dorian's spies had warned him of the attack in time. Through great effort, a massive ritual had pulled the city into a dimensional bubble only moments before the bomb struck. There it remained, in its Umbral pocket realm, unable to return to the material plane. Siphoning off a bit of the gathered ritual energy, Dorian was able to return the city to the physical realm. Realms dropped across Europe, decimating Lazarus' Empire. Neuropolis fell as well, destroying the Grim Legion's base within Dischordia's borders.
Yet the celebration was short-lived. Unification territories suffered devastating attacks after the realms fell. Faceless abyssal demons flooded from fallen cities. Shadowed things from the ruins of Samhain overran Shreveport. Columbia and Tallahassee fell to entities from the Abyssal portal in Miami. The nobles of Jacksonville found themselves caught between two enemies. They saw the Abyss rising to the south, and the Grim Legion descending from the north. Unexpectedly, the Grim Legion marched past them to fight their common Abyssal enemy. Lazarean and Unification soldiers fought side-by-side, as they once had during the War of Aether. They drove the Aether back to Miami. Exhausted and depleted, the two forces had lost their thirst for battle. Declaring a tense truce, the Grim Legion and the Unification kept watch to the south.
Treaty of Maelstrom's Rebuke
The war ended one year, to the day, after the events which marked its beginning. Delegates from Dischordia and Lazarus met to solidify a treaty and bring the war to a close. Every kingdom sent diplomats to witness the signing, but each had ulterior motives. Each hoped to see their kingdom's goals reflected in the final document. The Treaty detailed terms of ceasefire, such as returning prisoners and withdrawing troops. Yet it also contained several initiatives which advanced specific agendas.