Rubica

Description
Rubica is a small town far southwest from the Centre of the world, recently founded by travelers who had abandoned their kingdoms during war, and had spent their days living in the wild, surviving the harsh environment of Eldham and its conflict between its nations. They congregated together and decided to form the Town of Rubica, nicknamed "The Land of Bronze" due to the abundance of copper under it, and also with copper being an easy resource to gather. Their flag is a orange coated bronze sword with a dark background, symbolizing how unity will always stand tall in even in the darkest times for the town. It was founded on November 27th 2023, by Funnyeh (Rasna Ravenna), who is also its current mayor.

The Ardekilo Rise and Fall
Not much is known about the kingdom of Ardekilo, so the information listed is a bit concise. There was once a great kingdom known as Ardekilo. It was an empire spanning across the southern southeast quadrant of Eldham, though usually operating in secret. However, Ardekilo was ruled by a tyrant, and conspiracies started. Conspiracies evolved to coups, coups evolved to a rebellion, and a rebellion evolved to war with one of the neighboring provinces that supported the rebels, known as the Samaria Province. Eventually, Ardekilo fell, however Samaria had taken all the land they had promised the rebellion, and then exiled all the former Ardekilions. Betrayed, they had no choice but to leave, travelling as nomads for what they assumed to be the rest of their days.

A New Order: Soyello
The nomadic travelling was difficult for the Ardekilo outcasts. They had spent their lives holed up inside of Ardekilo's walls, while their military handled everything outside. Many of them died to disease, starvation, creatures, and even some drowning. Many of them wanted to give up, but one singular man kept them going: Soyello Ravenna. Soyello and his sister, Rasna, were both former Ardekilo citizens, with Soyello serving in the military. Soyello was well liked between the citizens of Ardekilo, as he told them all stories of what life was like outside of Ardekilo walls. Soyello kept his sister, as well as all the other outcasts in high spirits, and convinced them to keep going. They set up camp inside of a Dark Oak Forest, hunting for food and pondering their next move. Soyello was unanimously elected as their new leader, as he had the most experience out of everybody. There was hope among the exiled.

Divine Message
On the third night of their camping, Soyello woke up randomly in the middle of the night. It was strange. He usually never had sleeping problems. However, when he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he saw a spirit. It looked like a small little ghost girl of sorts, and it telepathically said "He is waiting." to Soyello. Fearful, he woke up his sister and told her what he saw. She was skeptical at first, but they decided to follow the spirit. It led them deep into the forest, before they eventually reached a quiet shoreline. The spirit disappeared, and a second one arose from the water. It introduced itself as Erikir, a deceased demigod of lightning and chaos. Erikir told Soyello about how he was watching them, and empathized with them. He told them how his best friend, Ayakara, had betrayed him as soon as Erikir had gained ultimate strength, and he perished due to their betrayal. He had been a spirit, wandering the earth, and dedicating his afterlife to help those who had suffered the same fate he had. However, his power was waning, and he could not do anything to help them. Due to being deceased, the only thing that could restore his power was a human life, and he knew it was unfair to ask for one of their lives... but strangely enough, Soyello offered his.

Unity Through the Dark
Both Erikir and Rasna were shocked by Soyello's decision. However Soyello stated that he wanted to change things for the better after his refusal to stand up to the Ardekilo government, and he wanted a fresh start for all its civilians, in which they could be free to do whatever they pleased. And so, Soyello was sacrificed to Erikir, and Erikir's lightning coursed through Soyello's bronze armor he had gotten for becoming a Ardekilo Lieutenant. Erikir's power had peaked, and he swore he would create a massive bustling civilization at Soyello's deathplace, a place to house all the Ardekilo outcasts. Erikir used his magic to summon his treasure he had as a human, and it laid across his body. However, as he tried to manifest a massive citadel, things went wrong, and before it could complete, Erikir, the citadel, and Soyello's corpse had disappeared, seemingly ceasing to exist due to magic overload. All that remind was the treasure, and Soyello's singular bronze sword, imbued with Erikir's lightning.

The Girl and the Bronze Blade
Rasna was devastated at the death of her brother, and that his death was in vain. She looked up to him so much. Due to being stuck inside their home, she had never had a taste oft he outside world, but Soyello promised one day he would take her to see it all. And now that he had, he was dead. And it was for nothing. She laid there for hours, distraught, lost on what to do. She looked at Soyello's bronze sword, flame and ember emanating off of its blade. She looked into the sword, seeing her reflection, and had a vision. She had a vision of the bustling society that Erikir had promised, where there would be no more worry of betrayal ever again. Her brother seen as a hero. However, all she could look at was her reflection. She had to be the one. She had to rally her people and create a new future for them. They couldn't throw in the towel. Not after Soyello's sacrifice. So, she took hold of the bronze blade, hoisted it in the air, and shouted into the night.

The Formation of Rubica
Rasna ran back to the camp, awakening the sleeping settlers. She took them to Soyello's deathplace, and told them the story of what had happened. They were confused at first... but something about her story gave them nostalgia. Nostalgia for the times when Soyello would tell them tales of the outside. And now it could all be possible, with the treasure laid before them. Rasna was praised for her bravery to pick up her brother's mantle, and doing her best to save them all. And thus, she was elected as mayor of Rubica, the new town made over Soyello's deathplace. There were not many travelers left, however one thing was clear: If they wanted to appease not just Soyello, but Erikir as well, and to honor his disappearance, they would accept all lost travelers into Rubica, named "Land of the Bronze" due to the assortment of copper and tin underneath the new settlement of Rubica, and also because of the blade Soyello left behind, the man who inspired them all.