The Holy Inquisition is a special religious court, one focused on pursuing heretics, magicians, non-humans, Arabs… Anyone can fall in one of these groups if it interests the Inquisition. It is a feared organization in all the places where it has jurisdiction. Nobody contraries it publicly; although some nobles plot in the shadows against it. It is a dangerous game and more than once a noble disappears during the night. Even the Cult of Verena fear to openly argue with it, instead giving a false public image of unity.

Although it is a powerful institution, it is far from achieving total control of the Estalian Kingdoms. The jurisdiction of the Holy Inquisition is limited to the more rural and poor kingdoms. Here their control on the people is amazing. They don’t govern openly, but all the petty kings of the region rule with an inquisitor or have an adviser from the Santo Oficio. So they are largely puppet Kings with an obvious apathy towards the duties of government. The advisors and inquisitors usually allow the King to think that they are the actual ruler, until they deviate from the chosen path. In this case, the King will have to face the raw reality of the situation. What would their reaction be? Abdication? Depression? Open or secret rebellion? No one knows. Only the measure of the man and the power they still hold would determine their course of action. Until now none have dared to attempt an open rebellion, but times are changing. (more…)

Unlike the lands that became the Empire and Bretonnia, the southern Old World was relatively untouched by Dwarf and Elf. The first Human migration from the south occurred hundreds of years after the Elder Race prevailed against the invaders that surged into the world when the Chaos gates collapsed. These semi-nomadic tribes settled along the river valleys and seacoast of Estalia, Tilea, and the southwestern Border Princes.

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