Santonia is, by far, the largest and most influential province in the Empire in almost every respect. It has the largest population, the most political influence, the largest provincial army, the largest economy, the largest province by size, and the…largest unused, possibly inhospitable landmass in the world.

Wait, what?

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Yes, uninhabitable landmass. Setting aside the rather questionable ownership of the Elderin (no one owns the Elderin, because no one can own it), something like 80% of Santonia is uninhabited…by Santonians, and most of that are the Santonian plains.

The Santonian plains are weird. They're vast, with a size that dwarfs most other provinces. All the major trade roads route around it. Santionia doesn't use it or patrol it. Monsters roam it. Barbarians inhabit it.

Wait, barbarians?

Yes, barbarians. Massive brutes wearing animal skins with mostly white skin smeared with war paint, roaming the plains, using chipped war axes to hunt down monsters and eat their flesh raw. When they're done, they roar, like an animal, because of course they do.

At least, that's what most Santonian's believe, anyway. The truth is, most of the "barbarians" are little more than small self-sustaining farming communities. Yes, they must deal with "monsters", and they have experience fighting beasts that most would run from, but they certainly don't eat the flesh raw. Why would they? Fire is a problem solved hundreds of thousand of years ago. So yeah, they cook, just as do most people.

They also only inhabit the edges of the plains. While that constitutes a rather significant portion of land, one might say a small province's worth, it is barely a tenth of the plains. Deeper in roam monsters no one can challenge. Also, deeper in are scattered endless ruins from ancient civilizations that predate this Empire and the one before…uh, and likely the one before that. There've been a lot of Empires…or empires. Only the current Empire can have a capital 'E'.

It's a thing.

Let's take a step back. In truth, barbarians are mostly a side-note to the Santonian narrative. Santonia is (and always has been, officially) a monarchy. It's one of the few that exist. Of course, it's subject to the Empire just as any province is, but the sheer history behind the monarchy is rather impressive, reaching back through so many iterations of the Empire that nobody truly knows where it began.

Also, it's one of the few provinces that truly understand the iterations of the Empire. The Santonian monarchy has survived multiple iterations, and maintains a record of such. Of course, they don't advertise this fact, keeping those records behind such tight security that not even the monarch's children know of its existence. And yet, that very knowledge is one of the key balances of power against the current Empire.

Because there's nothing a world-ruling Empire wants is for the knowledge that it is just one of many iterations leaking out to the general public. Such things have a way of eroding authority which…

…you know what, let's leave this one alone for now.

So, yes. Santonia is a monarchy. It also has a long rich history of selling marrying (don't let anyone tell you otherwise) its eldest princess to the Empire's next in line, whoever that might be, in order to maintain its position as the most powerful province in the nation.

Sooooo…yeah, there's a bit of a…tight relationship with the Empire and Santonia.

And then came Anna Longsun…

Well, shit.

Okay, let's not get ahead of the shit-show that's going to be (hint: it's a big one). Santonia has one of the most impressive cities in the world, Castel.

Castel, the capital of Santonia, has twelve twisted spires. Each of these spires has a base larger than most towns, even many cities. They twist, turning about themselves as they reach toward the skies. Every twelfth floor is consumed by a…garden. This garden is engineered to direct 90% of the light inward so as to produce enough food for the other 11 levels which…

You know what, that's not important. In truth, the spires of Castel are a marvel to rival the pillars of the Rotakan capital, something the Rotakan Empire would rather not dwell upon.