Arcadia

The world hated Arcadia, they were conquered many times. Arcadian children learn this in school, and they learn the next part louder. They prayed to TiAtlas. TiAtlas answered. Britannia arrived with ships and Etherium and called it destiny, and most Arcadians still do.

Strength is the whole culture. Boys are measured at twelve, the strong ones go to the Gelder for testing, and the ones who come back wear it on their sleeve. STARs walk in procession on Mondays, the day of Atlas, the only day the state gives back. The rest of the week belongs to the occupation. Arcadian soldiers hold Rovengaard, run the camps, count the Frysians at the checkpoints, and go home believing they are lifting a broken people.

The cracks are political. Royalists want Britannia's hand to stay. Nationalists say an empire raised by someone else can be dropped by them. The Purists, growing fastest, preach that power from a machine is an insult to the god who gave it freely.

Under the Gelder there is a facility Arcadia does not admit to. The three Ulvkin in its deepest cells were carried there in chains sixteen winters ago.