@Veloria is a coastal kingdom on @The Middle Sea of salt, silk, holiness, and naval strength, ruled by the Priest-King @Anselm XI, Potentate of Veloria, who claims divine communion with Stella Maris, goddess of the sea. Its cities are built on canals and cliffside terraces, and its fleets dominate trade across the southern waters. Veloria wields soft power with elegance—its diplomats are well trained in the art of persuasion, its temples centers of both worship and espionage. Recently, Anselm has spoken of visions: the sea goddess seeks union with the sky, a prophecy that could reshape the continent’s spiritual order. Veloria is a realm of mysticism, maritime politics, and seductive charm.
Veloria began as two powers: the Mariner Princes, who ruled the coastal trade routes, and the @Chamber of Stella Maris, who guided the spiritual tides. Centuries ago, during the Storm Reconciliation, a great tempest destroyed half the fleet and flooded the lower sanctums. The surviving leaders claimed it was a divine sign—Stella Maris demanded unity. Thus began the Convergence, merging crown and crosier into one sacred office.
The Potentate of Veloria is not merely a ruler, but a living conduit of divine will—a sovereign chosen by Stella Maris herself through visions, omens, and the sacred prayers. The role fuses spiritual authority with temporal power, and each Potentate’s reign is shaped by the tides of revelation, silence, and reckoning. Upon ascension, the Potentate undergoes the rite of immersion, a ceremonial immersion in sacred waters to to receive divine communion. Their vestments, @Potentate Robes of Stella Maris, are woven from fine fabrics, and the crown is called the @Yoke of Service.
@Anselm XI, Potentate of Veloria, the current Potentate, is a contemplative mystic whose recent visions speak of Stella Maris seeking union with the sky. His reign has seen a resurgence of celestial rites and the commissioning small envoys of legates to the ancient @Shrine of the Sky Ring in the @Verdant Pact region of Skybride. But Veloria’s history is shaped by many Potentates, each leaving a distinct imprint on the realm.
Potentate Calmaris the Stern ruled during the Era of Trouble, when famine in other continents made sea travel risky and foreign invasion ever looming. He enforced strict fasting and led a perilous pilgrimage to the Abyssal Trench, returning with the Soul Compass, a relic said to point toward divine truth. His reign was austere, marked by silence and sacrifice.
Potentate Gregory the Veiled remains one of Veloria’s most enigmatic figures. He never spoke publicly, communicating only through Sister Orla, his chosen interpreter. His reign was shrouded in secrecy, and many believe he communed directly with the deep goddess beneath the waves. Some sects claim he vanished into the sea at the end of his reign, leaving no body—only a trail of salt and prophecy.
Just as a stone dropped in water creates expanding rings, the Potentate’s authority radiates outward.
Jurisdiction: The City of Stella Maris.
Governance: Ruled directly by the Potentate and the Curia of Tides (High Court).
Focus: Theology, High Justice, and Naval Command (@Lord Admiral Lucien Marevalo) . This is the "brain" of Veloria.
The Vibe: Everything seems to require a stamp, a prayer, or a shadowy bribe. The laws here are strict religious laws (e.g., eating meat on fasting days is forbidden).
Jurisdiction: Trade ports (@Porto Vespera, @Sancta Orizzonte, etc.), remote naval fortresses (like @Rocca Ventosa), and the shipping lanes themselves.
Governance: Administered by Proveditors (Military Governors/Admirals). These are almost always naval officers appointed by the Lord Admiral.
Focus: Trade protection, anti-piracy, and resource extraction.
The Vibe: Martial Law. The "Law of the Sea" supersedes local custom. If you live in a Velorian trade port, the Frigate Captain in the harbor is effectively your king.
Jurisdiction: The mainland territories, including @Sancta Rina, the vineyards, the mines, and the northern mountain forts bordering Arinn & Thelidor.
Governance: Administered by Rectors (Civil Governors), usually drawn from the local landed nobility (the Count families of Sancta Rina).
Focus: Agriculture, mining, and border defense.
The Vibe: Feudal and relaxed. The laws here are secular and practical. They pay their taxes to the Potentate, but they run their own affairs and roll their eyes at the "fish-kissers" in the capital.
The Navy (Dominium Maris) thinks the Land (Dominium Terra) is soft, lazy, and ungrateful for the protection the ships provide.
The Land (Dominium Terra) thinks the Navy acts like tyrants, draining the treasury to build "cathedrals that float" while the northern border forts crumble.
Nuncios are the Potentate’s voice abroad. They do not command ships; they command contracts, treaties, and religious guilt. Highly educated, charming, impeccably dressed, sometimes in high ornamentation (to embody the reverent wealth and power they represent). They are experts in the laws of other nations, allowing them to twist foreign legal codes to Veloria’s benefit.
How they operate (The "Velorian Grip"):
A Nuncio arrives in a foreign court (like Thelidor) not to threaten war, but to "clarify trade disputes." They use complex maritime law to argue that Thelidor actually owes Veloria millions in unpaid tariffs.
They debate foreign priests, subtly suggesting that Stella Maris is compatible with local gods, slowly integrating Velorian worship into foreign ports.
Because they are "Men of Our Lady Stella Maris," they are often granted access to private chambers and confessionals that soldiers never see.
@Stella Maris, @Veloria 's capitol city with the namesake of its goddess, is a sanctum of salt and sovereignty, where the divine and the political converge beneath domes of pearl and glass. As Veloria’s capital, it houses the @Chamber of Stella Maris, the grand temple and seat of state where the potentate presides over both ritual and rule. The chamber itself is a marvel of architecture, its vaulted ceilings etched with constellations and its altars perpetually damp with seawater drawn from sacred aquifers.
The city sprawls across a network of canals, its ornate structures rising like coral spires from the tide. Gondolas glide silently beneath bridges carved with maritime scripture, ferrying citizens between districts named for stars, saints, and sea winds. The air is thick with salt and incense, and the rhythm of the city is set by the tide itself and bells toll by lunar phase.
The @Harbor District of Stella Maris is a colossus of trade and movement, where merchant ships from across Skybride dock beneath the watchful gaze of Veloria’s navy. Beneath the domed skyline, the navy lingers like a sleeping leviathan—its ships sleek, silent, and ever-ready. Their presence is both reassurance and warning: Stella Maris may be beautiful, but it is never unguarded.
The @Chamber of Stella Maris was not built in a single generation, but over centuries of devotion and divine inspiration. Its foundation began as a humble shrine carved into a seaside grotto, where early seers claimed to hear the voice of the sea goddess in the crashing waves. As @Veloria’s faith deepened, the shrine expanded into a sprawling temple complex, rising from coral reefs and tide-worn stone.
Master builders and sea-masons worked in rhythm with the tides, using Alendrian marble, silver, bioluminescent coral and salt-hardened driftwood to shape sanctums that shimmered with divine light. The Audience Chamber's central pool, known as the Eyes of the Deep, were forged from translucent coral, and iridescent shell, and filled with sanctified sea water.
Pilgrims arrive by gondola, passing under archways inscribed with prayers, and leave offerings of salt, shells, or pearls at the altar.
High vaulted ceilings with archways that echo cathedral ribs.
A pool of pristine water spans the chamber, with a smooth stone walkway cutting through it. Marked at the end by an elevated and elaborate nave where the priest-king sits.
Gold and silver inlays depict constellations descending into oceanic depths.
Light filters through stained glass panels shaped like waves and stars.
Used for formal audiences with Anselm XI and high ritual gatherings.
A private chamber for spiritual preparation and veiling rites
Only accessible to ordained members of the Chamber.
Where nobles, priests, and foreign envoys wait before audience.
Benches of polished driftwood, walls lined with maritime frescoes.
Guards posted at all exits.
A corridor lined with prayer shells and votive offerings.
Whispering acoustics allow for quiet reflection.
Often used for private counsel between Sealords and clergy.
A tactical chamber with naval charts, ship models, and strategic maps.
Used by the Lord of the Admiralty and Anselm XI for fleet planning.
A quiet garden-like space with shallow pools and stone benches.
Open to the sky, often used for meditation and theological debate.
Repository of naval doctrine, spiritual texts, and historical records.
Access restricted to scholars and high clergy.
@Anselm XI, Potentate of Veloria’s private chamber for writing, prayer, and contemplation.
Guarded at all times, but rarely entered by others.