Divine Empire of Xar
The Divine Empire of Xar (Kado Tezu Xara) is an enigma to those not born into it. The immortal god-queen Xar demands strict obedience from her citizens, and the borders are closed to outsiders.
What little outsiders do know comes as roundabout rumors, but always seems completely alien compared to life on the rest of the continent. Those who have survived encounters with the Xaran military tell stories of the Xarans raising giant beetles, both as war beasts and beasts of burden, as well as for their carapaces, from which they craft the distinctive armor of the Xaran noble-warrior class.
History
Xarans seem to be human, but don’t share a lineage with any other group in Western Gradia. Their word for their people is Age, which can also be translated as ‘settler’. Their people arrived on the shores of what is now Xar over a millenium ago.
Not long after The Sundering, the God-Queen rose to power and declared herself rightful ruler of the entire continent. The borders of her rule have expanded many times due to campaigns of expansion from the third through the ninth century IA, as her powerful insectoid war machines swept over land and sea. Eventually though, they reached an uneasy equilibrium as the Xaran forces ran first into the magical might of Thalarion to the west, and later agreed to an armistice with Rygalta to the east.