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The Fourth Age features a diverse lineup of nations intended to answer the "What if?" question of what a post-LA age would look like if Illwinter decided to add one to the base game.
To ensure some level of balance each nation undergoes a revision where the lead mod designer, TiredTaleTeller, tests the performance of the nation against other 4A nations as well as vanilla LA nations. The nations are therefore divided into four categories depending on how far they have come in their development:
A number of unofficial nations can also be found on the Fourth Age Discord. These nations can be played with the Fourth Age mod but they are not going to go through the revision process of the official mod nations.
Loringia is a realm of perilous mountains and fertile valleys at the crossroads of the two great empires of Marignon and Ulm. With the malediction devouring Ulm and demon worship corrupting Marignon, soon a new syncretic faith which opposed both was born. No longer shall humanity chafe under the yoke of demons from beyond, nor sustain those who have forsaken it in pursuit of immortality.
Sailing far and wide explorers of Portaverni are well known. They've reached many places, even the far eastern lands. They've sailed through the Sea of Storms. A perilous place where rock and storm destroy most ships. Through there they've found much wealth. Now the kingdom is strong, stretching along the coasts of many lands.
The Gjallarhorn has sounded, the Bifrost is shattered. The gates of Valgrind have been flung wide open and the legions of Asgard will march against the forces assaulting the world. Powerful Aesir titans command Stormborn valkyries to lead legions of animated Einherjar, while the humans who were willing to fight the last war join them, Asmeg descendants of the Aesir form the majority of the heavy forces for the nation.
In the distant past the little people who call themselves Bemenda were forced out of their ancestral home by great evil. Traveling through jungles they stumbled upon a great plateau which would prove to be an ideal new home. In the centre of the plateau they found what appeared to be ruins of a giant city filled with marvelous statues of humanoid elephants and deep under the city a huge system of catacombs was uncovered soon after. Bemenda, who worshipped elephants as the biggest and most powerful being in the jungle, believed to have discovered the city of the gods. After many generations have passed since the Bemenda settled and multiplied on the great plateau a great evil found them again. The elephant divinities came back to rescue their ancient home and brought with them their God.
The Old Faith has been nearly forgotten. The Centaurs and those halfmen who followed them abandoning it in favor of worshiping iron and gold. Now the groves that were once considered sacred lie empty. The last of the Panii; a race once mighty, but now fallen low still hold true to the Old Faith. While they have watched and waited for centuries, they will not wait any longer for the axes of men to come and claim what little remains. With those few creatures who still remain true to the old ways, Pangaea marches. Though the Panii know they are doomed, they will fight for the forest. One last time.
The people of Iram are the descendants of the ancient civilization of Na'Ba. As the last of the Jann and their Adite servants were slain, they turned to worshipping the Pantokrator and the divine emissaries who enforced his decrees. But as the city grew, prayers went unanswered and the decrees were no longer adhered to, the old faith reemerged and many turned their attention to darker pursuits. Now Iram is a nation divided by different cults, oligarchs and petty warlords in search of power, salvation or simply a purpose in service of the awakening god.
After the fall of Utgard, the Seiths forsaw the end times, and concocted a ritual to open the way for the Muspel to come, and bring about Ragnarok to the mortal world. The Muspel are giants of great strength and rage. The Jotun make up the majority of the populace of Muspelheim. Humans still aid their Jotun allies, undeterred by the eventual end their brothers in arms intend to bring. The Maw, the gate which the Muspel can be called from, can be opened by a communion of Seithver at the Ruins of Neifelheim over the course of a year.
Suazia was once a small outpost built by Pythian emperor to secure an important strait from east to west. Were it not for the civil war in Caelum, growth of Raghan Empire and war between Abysia and Gath Suazia would most likely remain as it was for centuries, a military outpost. With shrewd administration the suazian governors quickly turned the military complex into a sprawling trading hub and giant metropolis rivaling the Pythium itself which was at that time plagued with dozens of heretical cults, corruption and internal threats. Seeing as Pythium was quickly declining the rulers of Suazia rebelled and gained indepence from the collapsing empire.
The Tutugi are descendants of Atlantians who fled the madness under the waves. They resemble toads and have become known as toad men, although they have some fish-like traits as well. The Tutugi have become more toadlike since they settled along the great river and some have evolved other traits previously not found in Atlantis. Perhaps it's an adaption to the new land or the influence of their new masters, the Ginebig. The Tutugi use primitive armor. They've learned the secrets of metalworking on land under tutilage of the Ginebig but the nature of iron to rust is of little use to them. Their wealthier warriors found bronze to be much more effective.
The Malediction killed Ulm, though the Iron Kingdom's death was slow and lingering. Magic was condemned, and those accused of those forbidden arts were hunted down and murdered like rabid dogs in the streets. The end came suddenly. As blood flowed freely in the homes of noble and commoner alike, the Grand Elector Frederick Wilhelm forged a new national identity. Only by embracing the Hunger that the perverse Iron Cult had fought against for so long, could Ulm be at last restored to its former greatness.
The Taakiin are a confederation of several tribes of draconic beings. They inhabit cities of gold built into the walls of ancient and active volcanoes. The greatest of these cities is Taakiin-Taoul, their Capitol. At its center lies a great lake of gold, the Crisol Taakiin, which has been fed with offerings from their people from time immemorial. Only the fabled goldsmiths of their people are permit to draw from this divine well, to produce and affix the ceremonial arms and armour of their people.
Qadesh is a dry wasteland ruled by the few remaining 'Adites and Gittites, giants of an earlier age. No rain falls on these endless dunes and the desert leaves any lifeform in a constant struggle for survival. Civilization is spread thin with small settlements formed around the scarce water sources and roaming bands of nomads united in a loose federation. At the center of Qadesh lies the valley of Megiddo, the site of an ancient struggle between Abysians and Rephaim, ancestors of the Caphtorim. With the last giants' exile to this inhospitable land, an ancient presence has awoken and the deserts seem to grow as if they had a will of their own. Long forgotten kings and warriors rise again to lead their descendants to a safe future and reclaim what has been taken from them.
When the Onmyoji first managed to pass the Boundary to Ikai, the spirit world, they rejoiced, for here lay the promise of knowledge, and more importantly true immortality. In their hubris they did not realize that their meddling outside of this world may draw unwanted attention. Now the will of the awakening god is manifesting itself, and the ever waning and waxing boundary of reality is fading. Jomon will become a realm of twilight, forever trapped in a dense fog. The imperial bureaucracy's control over the nation is slipping as the days grow shorter, and mankind sees no light, but only endless dusk.
Pythium is an ancient empire, centered around the greatest city of the world. Over the centuries much has been lost to younger empires, less burdened by bureaucratic corruption, sectarian strife and rigid traditions. Now the ancient promise of the Prophet in White is about to come true and a new God will reveal itself, but many can't accept the truth. Much of the capital has been brought to ruin by rebellion and will need to be reclaimed in order for Pythium to be restored to former greatness.
Once known as Ys, Carcosa is now a warped reflection of its ancient self. When R'lyeh opened the void gate and unleashed its horrors upon the world no one was ready for it. Merrow and their morgen rulers did all in their power to stem the tide but horrors from beyond imagination and seemingly endless hordes of lobotomized madmen were too much for them. In their darkest hour as the city was about to fall they prayed for the last time and prepared for their final stand. Somehow, something did listen to their prayers and offered them salvation. And now morgen and their servants are awaiting the coming of their new master who will soon claim this world as theirs.
Ichtyids are trapped in a giant sea shell by R'lyeh. Some are taken away for experimentation. They will remain in the water and become the Land Otter People. Others are rescued by a great being they call Raven. He brings them to a great island. Then on the horizon several magical canoes appear with Atlantian refugees. Atlantian refugees bless the Ichtyids with magical powers. One teaches them how to use metal. They decide to live in the wilderness and act as guardians to the wild, their domain.
More then two centuries ago, the Raghanite Imperium crushed the once proud military of the old Kingdom with ease. Sweeping aside the valiant Heart Companions and purging the cult of the Sibyls. Only the reclusive mystics; carrying precious fragments of ancient lore escaped the devastation of Arcoscephale. While lesser men might have turned their fury on the Imperium, the Mystics knew of the true seed of evil in the world; The pretending gods who vied for power in the absence of the true Pantokrator. With the destruction of their ancient kingdom the mystics had nothing left to lose. In secret, the survivors founded an organization dedicated to opposing the forces of pretending gods.
Once Córdova was known as New Marignon, the vast colonial holdings of the Decayed Empire that stretched for thousands of miles along the shores of the new world. A kingdom seeking redemption for the sins of their homeland, they have declared total independence from the Empire of Marignon and hold the demonic forces of the new world at bay via the same fanatical strength that the Fiery Kingdom once used to defeat the terrible threat of old Ermor. The missionaries of Córdova will never again taint their hands with virgin blood. No matter what that resistance costs them.
While the Pale Ones faded from the world, the Olms receded. Miles beneath the earth, the Olms delved, and there they found a new race. The Olms chose to aid this fledgling race, who called themselves Davlin, or Dwarfs, in the tongues of men, as they had once aided the Pale Ones. In the upper reaches of the earth, the human kingdoms of Agartha were destroyed; burned and bled under the terrible onslaught of endless black wings. The survivors fled for their lives, and while some escaped to the surface, others followed the tunnels deeper into the earth. Escaping, for a time, from the nightmare that followed them. Now the three races that are all that remain of Agartha must fight together, less the Deep Kingdoms suffer the same fate as those who came before them.
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Erytheia is now a monarchy only in name. The conspiracies for the crown spiralled out of control, spilling over into civil war at several times in recent history. The turmoil and bloodshed weakened the realm and turned many inhabitants into refugees – not to speak of those that perished in the clashes for power. Today the nation have rebuilt much of what was lost during the eras of upheaval. A proud amphitheatre stands in the mouth of the Red River accessible to all, air breathing or not.
T'ien Ch'i has long been under the yoke of barbarian kings who have imposed their traditions and destroyed the celestial bureaucracy which ruled these lands in the distant past. With the apparent weakness of their rulers in the face of colonial powers like Marignon and Portaverni new and foreign beliefs have permeated society. Now a new God rises to restore order to the realm and reorganize the Bureaucracy under their enlightened rule. Already his vicars on earth are organizing the conquest of the known world in his name and fanatically loyal armies of those who suffered under barbarian rule flock to the banners the heavenly kingdom.
Machaka has been resurgent after the rise of the great king and the regimentation of their military… using heavy encirclement tactics and their new military doctrine, known as Impi, the tribes have been united and under the strength of the lion have rose to power unseen since the early eras. After spending so many years isolated, they have adopted a form of shamanism, and their spiritual leaders can communicate with the great animal spirits. The Rhino, Lion, Bird and Hyena tribes are united and they will trample the other nations to the sound of thunder.
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Following the end of the Late Age, both the gygjas of Vaettiheim and the völvas of Midgard saw a terrible vision of things that must come to pass. That the world must be burnt to ash. Now the Vanir and Vaettir are united in a desperate bid to prevent the ascendance of Muspelheim. Only the Eternal Winter may contain the flames of Muspelheim and grind the Cycle to a halt. Only the Fimbulvetr may end Time itself.
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More nations in development can be found on the Fourth Age Discord Server!