A theocratic nation that lies on the Northernmost border of the Myriad Nations, the Zel Theocracy is one of the larger nations, and is a few hundred years old.

Religion is central to life in the Zel Theocracy, as one might expect, to the extent that many of the people could be considered… well, zealots. Although there are no particularly odd rules with their origins in scripture governing peoples' lives, as one might encounter in Foroth, they are generally serious about their worship and most will at least start and end their day with prayer and religious contemplation.

People typically are free to lead their lives how they wish, although those who provide something which is generally useful such as a common staple or service are expected to donate some part of their produce/time to the church, and generally looked upon more favourably the more they give. Those who do not provide such things are quietly encouraged to find a more productive profession in the name of their god.

Those of the Zel Theocracy are also sometimes seen in other nations as missionaries, usually aiming to convert people to worship of their god. They can be quite insistent and aggresive about their beliefs in a single god and their rejection of the gods of other nations as true deities, which means they are often reviled.

Outsider Description: Obsessive monotheistic Zel-ots

The people of the Zel Theocracy are almost entirely Human. Examples of other Genera are rare, although occasional converts and pilgrims turn up from other nations.

Those of the Zel Theocracy will have only one name, though it may be multi-barreled. Those with a position in the church are always referred to by their rank followed by their name by those of a lower or no rank. When introducing oneself to outsiders worshippers traditionally append “of the Imperatum's Faithful” to their names.

Examples:

• Edith-Catalina
• Deacon Leonis
• Missionary-Priest Layton-Brook of the Imperatum's Faithful

As a full on theocracy, the Zel Theocracy is ruled by its only church. The Supreme Archbishop of the church has the ultimate say in the nation's affairs, though all is conducted in accordance with their god's teachings.

The laws of the Zel Theocracy are unsurprisingly also based around their religion. Most notably blasphemy, heresy and apostasy are all considered serious crimes with a hefty punishment. To insult their god (such as by claiming that they are not a god) or their teachings, or to claim that other entities are gods is considered highly blasphemous.

Those accused are brought to the church by specially-trained monks known as Enforcers, where they are judged by the High Priests and condemned to their punishment. One of the harshest punishments given short of straight up execution is exile into the mountains to the North, from which none have known to survive or return.

In the Zel Theocracy, religion is everything and is an important part of most peoples' everyday lives, and is a major focus of what they do. In the rare cases where someone is brought up there and decides it's not for them they tend to move away. Of course, they can then never return, because they are then guilty of apostasy.

• Word has filtered from the Zel Theocracy to the rest of the nations that there are other peoples not of the Myriad Nations who dwell in the mountainous regions further North of them, but other than occasional sightings of scouts these tend not to interact with them much, and have shown no signs of interest in communicating with them. (Chaos)