A Brief Encyclopedia of the Chronicles of Sacrifice

Hase

Hase is a war-torn land with a long history of conflict and strife, though not typically of their own doing. In more recent years, foreign powers seeking to expand influence or insurgent groups seeking to destabilize the region and take control have often come here to wreak havoc. It has gotten so bad that on a nearly yearly basis, borders and capitals change and nationalities are replaced. The few nations that have remained whole, or at least answer to the same government, are named, and their capitals labeled.

These nations are, more often than not, republics or democracies of some sort, as the people were forced to come together and agree on a system of governance for everyone together. While some of these nations have tried to directly "encourage" democracy elsewhere, it was ultimately concluded that the only way these systems can truly and wholeheartedly be adopted is through the people deciding for themselves. In most cases where it was attempted, the local people mostly just wanted someone to follow and lead them, and they did not often choose their governments themselves.

Due to the foreign influence and long history of conflict, the states that cannot come together as one often end up either fighting each other or fighting amongst themselves, a very different situation from what is found in Viikinki and Abwärtspfeil. These conflicts are most commonly fueled by rising powers and an ancient cult known as The Covenant. These forces also directly oppose each other at times, fueling an already tense environment and creating proxy wars between insurgencies and nation states.

The economic systems across most of Hase relate to the refinement or production of natural resources. For example, Torst Union exports oil and oil-based products for energy and machinery, as well as some power applications, and Südhalter is economically reliant on deposits of iron, copper, titanium, and nickel. Althausen is a major thoroughfare to the Freelands, taking in a great deal of products from the various microstates there as well as shipping materials from the rest of Hase on land. Most of these goods travel on land because, while few trains populate Hase due to near-constant conflict, they can travel by train through the Freelands once they reach Crossroads.

Republik Hase is a different case, as it is the oldest nation on the continent. It does a great deal of mining, particularly for diamonds and tungsten, and has its own systems of agriculture and production, importing very little. As the oldest established nation with hundreds of years of running behind it, many of its neighbors try to gain its favor in their conflicts. Republik Hase has remained neutral every time, retaining its status as a stable nation.

The remainder of the states are so often changing, in borders, systems, and capitals, that they are impossible to state in a text and expected to remain the same throughout the years. While many of these conflicts are skirmishes between small kingdoms or authoritarian regimes vying for land or resources, the greater threat comes from the Covenant and similar foreign groups in the region, typically funded by a state entity somewhere. It is easy to tell when foreign powers are at work because they almost always come in to "save the day" in exchange for something, often attempting to debt-trap the small nations into servitude.

The constant war and conflict breed all sorts of troubles. The lack of a stable government creates a lawless waste in many areas, resulting in massively increased numbers of monster-related incidents, crimes against the dignity of life, famine, and disease. Poverty will often strike those who refuse to take a side in the smaller sections of the continent, forcing people to join the conflict and fueling it anew in a vicious cycle. 

While foreign powers often seek control or economic gain, some groups go to Hase's more volatile regions in an effort to help. Doctors will travel there for service missions, healing people and teaching, and engineers will go to attempt to rebuild or generate new infrastructure. While these efforts always help massively in the short term, if not protected by some security force, they are often destroyed, particularly by Covenant forces. It is a never-ending battle against users of essence magic in this region, and only the bravest and most selfless individuals come here to provide aid.

The geography of the region varies, primarily in large swaths of land, and not quite in the divided sense that the Freelands are. There are large plains and forests, some mountain ranges, many rolling hills, and swamplands abound. There are no deserts per say, but there are plains regions that tend to be dryer and the plantlife much hardier than normal. While this may seem preferable to an actual desert, monsters are far more active here because of the climate, making it far less ideal.