Kingdom of Meltor

The Kingdom of Meltor is Theodore Miller's homeland and the story's central state, renowned the world over for its mages. Here mages are the cornerstone of society, and the country's distinctive etiquette is found in Meltor alone. The kingdom's power structure is unlike any other: Meltor was founded by a great wizard and prospers through magic, so the centre of national authority is the Towers of Magic rather than noble houses. Its capital is Mana-vil, a city of white spires that every subject of the kingdom dreams of living in; it is there that the great Towers and the central magic university stand, and there that wizards from across the continent gather each year for the famous magic contest.

Meltor lies in the north of the continent: the Harkan mountain range shields it to the northeast, while to the northwest it borders the Andras Empire — a long-standing rival that surpasses Meltor in size and strength. Where Andras relies on aura and aura-users up to the level of sword masters, Meltor stakes everything on cultivating mages and passing knowledge down across generations. Despite its smaller size, the kingdom keeps parity — chiefly thanks to its two 8th-Circle mages, the Masters of the Red and Blue Towers, and a great number of senior mages. Elfheim, homeland of the elves, lies nearby, and Meltor eventually forges an alliance with it.

It is an enlightened state. About a century ago Meltor, together with Andras, abolished slavery: knights and mages stamped out the slave trade, and slavers are now barred from the kingdom. Meltor rejects religion — finding a high priest within it is all but impossible. Three stand at the apex of power: the Master of the Red Tower, Veronica, the Master of the Blue Tower, Blundell, and King Kurt III; only they may give one another direct orders.

King Kurt III is the finest ruler in Meltor's history. He has purple eyes and golden hair, cannot abide useless luxury, and prizes efficiency above all: he ascended the throne under the Towers' patronage, yet concentrated all military and administrative power in his own hands, beheading nobles who acted for their own gain and redirecting their flattery and gifts into the treasury. Kurt firmly defends Meltor's interests, rebuffs the pressure of Andras's envoys, forges alliances (even with Elfheim), and more than once asks Theodore's counsel. It is he who personally arranged the 'wedding of the century' — officiating, as monarch, Theodore's marriage to Sylvia and Veronica, something no king had done in several hundred years, and barring outsiders from the palace that day. Having led the country into a golden age, in the finale he proclaims Meltor an empire and becomes its first emperor.

Kurt III is a king with purple eyes and golden hair, the finest ruler in Meltor's history. Stern, calculating and efficient, he wastes almost no time on ceremony and rarely speaks with any one person for more than a minute; from his youth he walked a 'bloody path' and can be both kind and merciless.

Having taken the throne under the Towers' patronage, he concentrated all military and administrative power in his hands: defiant nobles he beheaded, while the flattery and gifts of the rest he redirected into the treasury. A royal decree of Kurt's carries the force of law — to disobey is to face the gallows for treason.

To Theodore, Kurt is a monarch and high patron: he personally rewards the hero with titles and gold, asks his counsel in affairs of state, and uses him as a key figure in his politics. It is also he who personally arranged the 'wedding of the century,' wedding Theodore to Sylvia and Veronica, and who in the finale proclaimed Meltor an empire and became Emperor Kurt III.

The north of the continent: the Harkan mountain range shields Meltor to the northeast, while to the northwest it borders the much larger Andras Empire. Elfheim, homeland of the elves, lies nearby.

Andras bets on aura and sword masters, Meltor on high-Circle mages; it is its two 8th-Circle mages that hold the balance of power between the nations.

About a century ago Meltor, together with Andras, abolished slavery and barred slavers from the country. The kingdom rejects religion, and a high priest is all but impossible to find here.