For a story I'm hoping to get off my butt and write one of these days, and created entirely on my phone in Adobe Express.
The Federation of Cælestia
Originally a small polity on the fantasy world of Novum, the House of Jaegori's only claim to fame was being the origin of the magic that allowed men to tame dragons before it was quickly claimed and used by other nobles more proficient at it to grow their power beyond what the Jaegori's could ever hope for. After being granted a minor, advisory seat on the running Council of Princes, the Jaegoris next move to try and curry favor was to nearly bankrupt themselves building a place where the representatives of the Council could meet in a neutral location, effectively giving up control of their minor fiefdom over to the Council and becoming custodians of the Hall of Princes. Little did they know that their time would come, but it would require the destruction of their world for that to happen.
Caught in the tail end of an ongoing war between the absentee God Ixxon that created the two worlds of Ixthon and Novum before leaving them to his children, the lesser Gods, Ixxon's revenge upon his being slain by his son, the God Hægiro of Novum, was to alter the orbits of the two worlds and send them on a collision course. The aftermath of the Folly of the Gods would see Novum destroyed, with Hægiro using all of his strength to save a portion of the surface after its collision with one of Ixthon's moons, creating a floating continent over the southern part of Ixthon.
It would be decades of strife for the survivors as they endured storms, earthquakes, and political instability before things would begin to calm down. Because most of the more powerful Princes had turned their focuses to external enemies and political plots, many were unprepared to handle the struggles and it would be the stewards and custodians of the realm that would emerge with the power.
Once again, the Jaegoris would find themselves with a powerful tool, this time the new discovery of transportation magic circles, allowing for easy mustering from across the realm and eventually, down to the ruined surface below. This time though they would capitalize on it and consolidate power through political dealings and relying heavily on the growing Church of Hægiro. After centuries of growing power through trade, religion, and the exploitation of survivors of the world of Ixthon below forced into serfdom,, and political might, they would grow the new Kingdom of Cælestia to encompass the entirety of the floating continent with several military outposts on the land below to exploit the ruins of a lost civilization.
A series of incompetent rulers and growing unrest amongst the powerful nobles would see the Kingdom of Cælestia reformed into the Federation of Cælestia, with the Jaegoris ruling as little more than figureheads to the whims of the powerful noble ruling class.
The Meritocracy of Nova Doctrinus
With the growth of the strength of the noble ruling class, the Church of Hægiro would first turn to the refugees turned serfs from Ixthon mutated by the magical energies of Cælestia to have bestial features, the shadowkin, and ultimately to academics and scientists researching the nature of their new world and lost technologies and magics as their scapegoat in their attempts to maintain their power. Enforcing a fundamentalist doctrine upon society, anyone with a scholarly pursuit was eventually forced into a region in the North of Cælestia and segregated from society in the guise of being "allowed" a place to continue their studies in peace, Doctrinus.
The publishing of a study on the mining of the magic crystals supporting Cælestia and its devastating effects by one of the lead scholars, Donald Thigori combined with an attempt to create an alternate source of energy and magic would occur at the same time both the Church of Hægiro and the current Jæhori king were looking to grow their political powers again. The resulting friction would ultimately expedite the creation of a new form of energy, the æther, but instead of being received as a breakthrough, the noble ruling class would see it as an attempt to reduce the profit and power they had through mining, leading to an attempt to ultimately shut down Doctrinus and imprison the newly declared heretical scholars.
Seeing no alternative, the scholars of Doctrinus would use the æther to crack the very mantle of Cælestia surrounding Doctrinus before a suicide raid on the magical tether connecting the region to the rest of Cælestia, allowing Doctrinus to follow the winds and float away.
Ever cognizant of the threat of retaliation from Cælestia, Doctrinus would form itself into a militant meritocracy, using the æther to not only control the path the island takes in the skies, but to turn the entire island into a warship to protect itself from Cælestia. Upon the discovery of a treasure trove of lost artifacts and technologies in the Northeast part of Ixthon and the reactivation of an artificial Goddess to guide them, the Meritocracy of Nova Doctrinus after a century of awaiting an attack from Cælestia have now begun to consider a preemptive attack to settle things once and for all.
The Imperium of Cælestia
Following the devastation wrought by the attack by Nova Doctrinus from above and spies instigating a serf rebellion in the capital in an attempt to destroy network of tethers holding Cælestia aloft, at the urging of her aunt the high priestess of the Church of Hægiro, Princess Sælya Jægori assumes direct control of Cælestia after the death of her father, the king. Using forbidden magics and technologies, she begins to accelerate plans to mine more magic crystals despite the destruction to Cælestia it will cause in an attempt to protect Cælestia from the threat of the Meritocracy.
The Libertas Union
Following the final war between the Meritocracy and the Imperium and after the revelations both were being manipulated by outside factors with different agendas: the Meritocracy by a malfunctioning AI based on the remnants of an ancient Goddess's teachings, and Princess Sælya by an insane Goddess bent on the destruction of Cælestia and Hægiro, the nomadic air pirates intercede to protect the regular citizens of the Meritocracy after it's left bereft of any leadership. The Libertas Union is established as a parliamentary democracy devoted to being a safe place for any that need refuge.
