Zephiricon Eccelsiocracy

The Kingdom of Zephiricon has been found wanting, the heretics have been put to the flame by the newly emboldened Inquisition, emerging from weeks of infighting to usher in a new age under the regime of High Lord Inquisitor Augusticanus. Under his leadership, the church of the Empyrean shall lead humanity to a golden age of thaumatic technology, a task which requires nothing less than the absolute elimination of magic and the full and loving embrace of technology.

History

THe Kingdom of Zephiricon was founded two centuries ago by the Seraph Gestahl, who planned each of it's cities with meticulous precision. It's cities are ordered, with straight roads and large towering housing structures each with their own chapel. These chapels form the bases of the holy order known as the Masons of Gestahl, charged by the church to maintain the holy works of their patron. The landscape outside the cities has been shaped as well, Zephiricon is home to a network of canals, dams and reservoirs, which eagerly drink the sky of it's water.

In the past several decades, Gestahl has grown distant from his domain and left it in the hands of Basileous Trikoupis. Building on the foundations of his chosen patron, Zephiricon has been revitalized with public works such as the new stout iron aqueducts which supply fresh pollution free water to the city, to an expansion of the public housing, all done with the assistance of the Masons. Basileous Tripkoupis poured much of his wealth into the Masons, allowing them free reign to continue their holy work. It has lifted thousands out of poverty,

Basileous Tripkoupis was tragically wounded in an assassination attempt by his own son, who was aghast at his fathers squandering of their considerable wealth. Mysteriously saved from deaths door, the righteous Basileous earned the Epithet 'of the people'. After the attempt, the Basileous was never the same and rumours surrounding his survival undermined his standing.

After the 'matter in heaven', Zephiricon was in chaos, some of the thamautic technology of the Kingdom had failed and factions of the military rebelled. During this time, High Lord Inquisitor Augusticanus had wrested control of the Empyrean Church for his faction and came to the aid of the Basileous, with his retinue and restored order to the Kingdom. Unfortunately for the Basileous, High Lord Inquisitors connections to the Kingdom and himself were complex. He investigated Tripkoupis, stripping him of power and convening a inquisitorial trial on charges of heresy and witchcraft. The verdict was damning

"Upon consideration of the evidence, this court finds that you did not survive your wounds through strength of body or soul, but through the machinations of witchcraft."

The Basileous was remanded to the dungeon for execution, a fate he would never endure, as loyalists to the crown smuggled him from the Palace. Despite the setback, the High Lord Inquisitor nevertheless burned the remainder of the royal family as tainted by the pact of witchcraft. In their stead, the High Inquisitor himself is the legal ruler of the nation, placed under the oversight of the Inquisitorial arm of the church.