Geographically, the Republic of Thur is the central realm of the known world, and in many ways it was the most typical one as well. The Republic was one of the first domains where the old magocracy was overcome by mundane heroes and warlords, and it was the first ‘real’ nation that was founded for a very long time (technically, Ferron is older, but Thuria had already been a stable country while Ferron was still devastated by civil wars).

After the overthrown magocrats were killed or driven away, new rulers came together and formed the Republic. Influential local nobles and clan leaders elected the Archons, the rulers of the land. The glory of Thur was immense, the country led a few border skirmishes and “freed” other neighboring countries from the magrocratic rule to make them a part of the republic – Ustern, Marve and the eastern parts of Tesaya became client states of Thuria and are effectively subjugated marks of the Republic. This expansion ended after the Republic lost two wars in quick succession, at first against the then newly formed Grand Duchy of Ferron and a year later on the western border against the warrior caste of Sascria.
These two bitter defeats broke the military backbone of the Republic, and shattered the belief of the ‘newly joined’ countries in the republic. This lack of confidence lead to the civil wars which are still going on today.

Modern Thuria is a country that slowly bleeds out in a war with too many fronts. The republic has grown too fast in its expansionist phase and the social and political infrastructure for an empire of this size never existed. The new vassal states on the border of Thuria were not able to defend themselves, granting easy victories which made the Republic and its leaders arrogant – until the Ferronian archers and Sabscrian wolfmen taught them humbleness again. Now, the republic tries to hold its territory together, leads different campaigns against the rebels in Ustija, Marwe and the hinterlands of Teslaya, without achieving more than token successes, while the rebels also seem to be unable to beat the Thurian armies.

While Thuria is a republic, the influence of the simple peasants or townsfolk is not greater than in the more feudal countries like Ferron or Venna. The upper class – the so-called achieved men – may participate in the elections of the archons and the local councils, but for the majority of the population, including all womenfolk, this participation is illusory. The achieved men elect a small regional council from their ranks, and every nine years, a new council of Archons is chosen to rule the Republic as a whole. The nine Archons are elected for nine years, but can only be reelected once.

Thuria also has a meritocratic streak though. Even the poorest of the poor can climb up into the ranks of the achieved men when they actually achieve something great, and especially the military services are a way to climb up the social ladder, and for many men, the only way at that. This explains the militarism of the Thurian society, because the lower classes in Thuria had a genuine interest in warfare, as this was the fastest way for them to improve their social status. The steady interest in military services also lead to a large standing army, and since the Archons often feared that the army could overthrow them and since large groups of bored soldiers are never a good idea, the expansionism had inner political reasons as well.

This social model worked well in central Thur, but it never took off in the vassal states, simply because no one in Thuria really wanted that the citizens of Tesaya or Ustern grow too in-fluential in Thurian politics. Over time, even the regional political influence in the Vassal states shifted from the local elites to Thurian satraps who effectively ruled the country and taxes from the vassal states paid for the infrastructure and army of the central Republic.

The rebellion began in Ustern, a grassland region where denizens of horse nomads of Sarrikan stock lived. The Archons wanted to force the nomads to settle down and to start grow crops “like civilized people”, but the Usterni riders refused, and started to fight against the Thurian settlers, administrators and soldiers in their land. This insurrection would probably have been put down in a year or two, but the “Usterian Mutiny” became a signal for the other vassal state rebels, and soon, the fires of rebellion were lightened in Marve and Tesaya as well. After the military defeats against Sascria and Ferron, the once huge Thurian army was unable on all three fronts at the same time, so that every campaign against the rebels in one of the provinces is bought with new rebel successes in the other two.

The current situation is that the Ustern plains and hills are independent but in name only and the nomads have pretty much ceased to fight, as long as the Republic stands out of their territory. The western hinterland of Tesaya is a no man’s land, where small warlords, tribal leaders and the occasional Sascrian war band rule the land, which has heavily devastated by the scorched earth tactics of both rebels and the Thurian army. The large and important city of Tesaya itself is firmly in the hand of the Republican forces, but the soldiers and officials have learned to distrust the townsfolk and do not leave their fortress and barracks at night. In Marve, the rebels are hard pressed, and the last campaign has pretty much brought an end to rebel activities in northern Marwe, while southern Marwe remains a rebel stronghold, because the rebels can always retreat to the mountains. Even worse, it seems that more than a few rebels have withdrawn into the originally stable and peaceful region of Selma and try to start a new insurrection there as well. The Thurian army is spread thin, and more and more mercenaries are hired to fill the gaps.

The people of Thuria are more of northern than of southern stock, and have a much lighter skin and hair color than their southern neighbors, even though there are strong Vennan and Ferronian influences in the south of the Republic. Through the expansion, the Republic has become a multi-ethnic country, including not only Thurians, but also people of pretty much every ethnic origin. Especially "civilized" Sarrikans, who have given up the nomadic lifestyles of their forefathers are a significant minority.

Beastfolk are not especially liked in Thuria, but they are also not treated with specific intolerance or open hatred. Like their human neighbors, Beastfolk can become Achieved Men, but their way to get there is actually harder than for human republicans, and in the whole history of Thur, there was exactly one Beastfolk ever who become an Archon – the Ragari Domian, who was assassinated shortly before he could candidate for a second time in office. Other non-humans are rare, but are generally not treated any different than beastfolk.

Women are clearly second class citizen in Thur, and are not allowed to inherit, marry without the consent of their closest male relative or even run a business or join the army. Polygamy is legal and actually common in Thuria, but only among the Achieved Men; having many women is a status symbol, as are many children.

Thuria is a highly religious country, and the Thurian or Northern Pantheon that is worshipped here has a significant impact of everyday life. Every Thurian joins one of the cults when be-coming an adult and sacrifices and prays to the according god. The different cults are quite competitive and the clergy has a vast political influence as well, often forming a counter-weight to the Achieved Men and the military. In the past, the priests have been strong supporters of the expansionism of the republic and have done their best to poison the relation to the ‘godless’ Magocrats of Sascria.

The central provinces of Thuria are plentiful in resources and quite frugal, and both the country’s mines and fields are highly productive and can easily produce a surplus even in bad times. This wealth has formed the financial backbone of the expansion of earlier years, and the western vassal states have participated to this relative wealth.

Thurian soldiers have only to finance their equipment themselves, and are therefore much more uniform in their appearance than any other army. The best equipped soldiers are usually either veterans who could justify better equipments from the armories through their vigor , or they are the children of rich families who can afford good and thus expensive armor and weapons. Eitherway, these heavy troops are often kept as an elite in the centre of the battle, or as shock troops to overcome enemies if needed. The Thurian army combines crossbowmen, infantry and cavalry and usually tries to use all these troops combined. The typical crossbowmen are wearing only light armor, but use tower shields with rests for their crossbows to form an effective wall against other archers. Thurian infantry wears chain hauberks, and either polearms or melee weapons and shields, while the cavalry consists mostly of heavy shock troops with long lances. The Thurian army once had the reputation of extraordinary good training and effectiveness, but this image has taken damage due to the recent defeats.

The relative wealth of the Republic of Thur and the heavy losses in the rebel insurrections and the battles against Ferron and Sascria has led to a situation, where mercenaries have become highly welcome in Thuria and are paid well.