Cheliax, Empire of Devils

Non-Chelaxians often ask the nation's citizens, "How could this have happened? How could you have let devil worshipers take over?" Such questions betray a fundamental lack of knowledge of Chelish nature.

Cheliax has long imagined a central role for itself in the history of Golarion. For more than 500 years, it was the prime military and economic power on the continent. Its rule featured prominently in the Starfall Doctrine, which prophesied a time when the god Aroden himself would return to take the crown and usher a new reign of peace and justice. Dreaming themselves to be the inheritors of grand destinies, the Chelaxians grew proud - arrogant, even - and expanded their empire mercilessly in the name of their glorious fate.

It came as a great surprise to them when Aroden died. Desperate, the nation sought to hold onto its self-important stories and national mythology. How they found themselves under the heel of a different leader, Abrogail Thrune - who promised them the glory that Aroden's death destroyed even as she twisted the country away from its most cherished ideals - is a riddle to which few know the answer.

The darkness that swept the country after their god's demise nearly destroyed the Chelaxians. They were shattered and riven; 30 years of internicine warfare turned families against each other. Small tyrants arose, promising shelter from the increasing fury of the civil underlings, and were just as swiftly swept aside by ambitious underlings, crafty foes, and diseases that ravaged the country. Chaos reigned, uncertainty in every breath, and the dreams of imperial Cheliax were a golden memory of a time-that-was.

The wars grew steadily more vicious, and the would-be rulers of the country turned to increasingly desperate measures, until at last Abrogail Thrune struck a bargain with the darkest powers of Hell. Whatever pact she made that night was decisive; the hordes of Hell came to her aid, and the House of Thrune ascended to the throne of Cheliax. Her family has remained in power ever since.

Since the Thrune Ascendancy, the country has known relative peace, but that physical peace comes at the cost of peace of mind, and perhaps the soul itself. Devils - most of them in the guise of mortals - roam to the very corners of Cheliax, constrained by some force within the borders that the nation rightfully calls its own; Hellknights and Asmodean Inquisitors enforce the law with brutal clarity and vicious efficiency; the noble houses engage in bloodsports and crush the lower classes for their entertainment. The golden dream that was Cheliax lives on, but in name only, and woe comes to those who dare to voice their discontent.

The Chelaxians have traded their freedom and their future for the promise of the lash.

Understanding Cheliax

The key to understanding modern Cheliax is recognizing its need for power, and that if ever there were a concrete illustration of power's corrupting influence, Cheliax would serve admirably in that role. For centuries, the people of this land have paid tribute to the notion that power in any form is the highest achievement in life. Even before the Thrune Ascendancy took shape form the chaos that surrounded the failure of the Starfall Doctrine, the people of Cheliax believed in the goal of power for its own sake: military, economic, political, or magical.

This is what led to their downfall. When power becomes the goal, concerns about the way one achieves it fall by the wayside. It was only natural that some would seek to increase their power by supernatural means, and then by diabolical ones, and that once they achieved dominance, they would consolidate their standing by crushing their rivals and subjugating any who fell under their sway.

Those outside Cheliax accuse the country's ruling class - and, indeed, any who seek standing in the country - of serving Hell. They point to the Hellknights, to the bloodsports, to the sanctioned worship of Asmodeus, and the increasing rigor and evil of the country as proof of their claim. But the Chelaxians maintain that their critics have it backward: Hell serves Cheliax.

- from Cheliax: Empire of Devils, Paizo Publishing, 2009

Queen Abrogail II