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Formal Name: Republic of Lom Shi'Un
Abbreviation: text
Capital: Taikroisa
Government Type: Republic
Chief of State: Unknown
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Symbology
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History
Lom Shi'Un (LÓM shē-ŪN) was the dominant nation in the eastern Giantdowns, beyond the region controlled by Nasoj.
The cities which made up much of the core of the Lom dynasty were originally built by giants, some 9900 years before the advent of the Cristos Reckoning. It was during this time that the giant empires were at their peak, though there were signs of the waning that was to come.
Over the next four thousand years the capital city of Tarnianiaas saw a slow but marked decline in the populations of giants that had once held sway over the great forests surrounding their magnificent city. The giant empire became a giant kingdom, and eventually Tarnianiaas became a mere city-state, then it was abandoned
Humans found the abandoned city, then the Forest of Darkness to the south. These humans were outcasts from one of the Eastern lands, driven out for their practice of forbidden magic. Finding that their new home was practically on the front doorstep of Lilith, the refugees quickly abandoned their ancestor worship and made alliances with Lilith and her servants, the Moon Elves, naming her the patron goddess of their fledgling kingdom. Lilith was pleased with this and instructed her moon elf followers to accept the humans as equals, teaching them to obey her commandments but not taking them as servants as the elves did in other parts of Galendor.
Over the following centuries Lom Shi'Un had a succession of theocratic governments, with control passing back and forth between the priesthoods of Lilith, Ba'al and Suspira. None of these churches were ever successful in completely eliminating their rivals. Worshipers of the Aedra were persecuted, but maintained small underground cults in honor of their chosen deities.
During the time of Nasoj, the Empire of Lom Shi'Un acted as a barrier to Nasoj's expansionist ambitions. It is unknown whether Nasoj was expressly forbidden by Ba'al from making war against his eastern neighbor; or if Lom Shi'Un was simply too powerful for him to stage an effective invasion; or if the supply lines that were necessary between Nasojassa and the borders would have been too costly and vulnerable to maintain. Perhaps it was a combination of all of these factors. Whatever the reason, Lom Shi'Un was formidable enough to stop Nasoj from advancing in their direction, and isolationist enough that they had no interest in starting a war of their own. The two empires signed a nonaggression treaty; unusually, Nasoj kept his end of this bargain. The stability of this eastern front made it possible for Nasoj to venture his repeated invasion attempts on Metamor Valley and the Midlands beyond.
After Nasoj's defeat in the Winter Assault in December 706 CR, Lilith sensed weakness in Nasoj's empire, and commanded her servants in Lom Shi'Un to "liberate" some of the more economically and politically significant towns in Nasoj's territory.1 Abandoning its long policy of isolationism, Lom Shi'Un drove out Nasoj's servants in the northeastern Giantdowns, taking the towns of Da, Loskaei, and Rerwek. Though Nasoj's southwestern realms were beyond the reach of Lom Shi'Un's supply lines, the Dynasty supported Lilith's servants in the Murk when they engineered uprisings in Lik, Bremen and Caralore, and destroyed Nasoj's magical research outpost at Cirith Morgul.
In 708 CR Lom Shi'Un sent an expeditionary force to Metamor Valley, supporting a larger offensive by the Daedra Lords that was intended to destroy the Metamor chapter of the Lightbringer Order. The battle began to go badly when the Aedra committed their forces of devas and eladrin directly to the battle, violating the millennia-old treaty between Aedra and Daedra. When the Daedra unleashed their own troops onto the battlefield, the Lomish commander cannily withdrew his forces from battle and used his magic to speed their passage back to Lom Shi'Un. Lom's early withdrawal from the battle saved the bulk of their forces from destruction and helped ensure the Dynasty's continued existence as a world power.
After the Great Fall, Empress Laneth Ru continued to rule Lom Shi'Un in Lilith's stead while the goddess built up her power base in Elderwood; while the Dynasty had substantial economic and magical power, it was largely isolated by its position in the Northlands, and Lilith had designs on expanding her influence throughout the Midlands. Lilith's choice of the more vulnerable Elderwood as her base of operations was doubtless a deciding factor in the success of Talia's assassination plot — she would have had a much harder time striking at Lilith if she had been forced to infiltrate the Dynasty first. For her part, Laneth Ru was pragmatic enough to transfer her loyalties to Talia after she seized Lilith's divine power. Her counsel was no doubt a key factor that helped Talia to successfully consolidate her control over Lilith's followers.
It is not yet established how Lom Shi'Un made the transition from Empire to Republic, but Talia almost certainly orchestrated the entire process for her own reasons.
Country Today
Lom Shi'Un retains its status as an independent nation, despite being surrounded on three sides by the Empire of Metamor and the fourth by Quenardya.2 While it does not hold all of the territory it once did, Lom Shi'Un remains an important player in the politics of the Northlands.
Relations with other nations
Places of Note
Cities
- Taikroisa (capital city)
Geographical Features
- list item
Known Citizens
- Xiang Jinn, diplomatic attache, assigned to the Empire of Metamor.
Sources
MK Wiki Entry- Lom Shi'Un
Rafak Aliri and The Book Of Shadows, Balticon 47 (2013) Live Audio Drama
Author's Notes
The state of Lom Shi'Un in the universe underwent a number of changes during the development of the audio drama, Rafak Aliri and The Book of Shadows.