Dominion of Rubrum

The Dominion of Rubrum is a Crystal-Nation in Final Fantasy Type-0 basking in the power of the Vermilion Bird Crystal. The dominion lies to the south of Orience and has a temperate climate, the barren and cold Milites Empire lying to the west and the humid marshlands of the Kingdom of Concordia lying to the west. The mountain range to the north divides the dominion from the northern Lorican Alliance.

Rubrum is governed by the Consortium of Eight who also lead the magic academy and capital: Akademeia. Khalia Chival VI is head of the state and the academy headmaster. Akademeia trains Agito Cadets as per the Will of the Vermilion Bird Crystal, whose peristylium is also located on its premises. The cadets are selected by Crystal for their magic ability, and following entrance exams are split into appropriate classes.

Rubicus
''Rubrum's governing body, the Consortium of Eight, is headed by Akademeia Chancellor Khalia Chival VI. The dominion is the most verdant nation in Orience, boasting the stablest climate. Using the blessing of the Vermilion Bird Crystal, her people have developed their own tools and teknology. Humans are not the only denizens of Rubrum: gentle creatures such as moogles and chocobos also inhabit the dominion, peacefully coexisting with the populace.''
 * The Dominion of Rubrum


 * The Vermilion Dawn
 * Establishment of the Dominion of Rubrum
 * The Rubrumite-Dracobaltian War
 * The Rubrumite-Concordian War
 * Rubrum: Implementation of Eidolons
 * The Rubrumite-Militesi War
 * Establishment of Dominion Central Command
 * Establishment of the Armory Guilds
 * Establishment of the Chocobo Ranch
 * Imperial Invasion of Rubrum
 * The Akademeia Liberation
 * The Dominion Legions
 * Cadets on the Battlefield

Story
The oldest verse of scripture in Akademeia reads: "Unto Orience came the Crystal of the Vermilion Bird, to guide the children of Rubrum and bestow the great task upon them." The "great task" is commonly understood to mean the creation of Agito, and to that end the magic academy of Akademeia was established on an island off a southern coast.

Akademeia started as a small schoolhouse, a sanctuary where a few cadets basked in the light of the Crystal, but as the teachings of the first chancellor spread the school grew. By the year 100 the use of magic had become prevalent and Akademeia conducted research into attack and defense spells analyzing and reformulating new spells that could be taught to the students enrolled as Agito Cadets seeking to actualize their magic potential.

While Rubrum, Togoreth, Iscah, and Eibon were loosely affiliated and shared borders, there were few pressures to unify. However, some six-score years after the foundation of the Vermilion Peristylium, ideological principles brought these states together. Despite Akademeia being the alliance's political heart, little thought had been spared to its defense. When monsters laid siege to the peristylium aid from the satellite states was slow to rise, but the Vermilion Bird l'Cie saved Akademeia. The official establishment of Akademeia as the seat of power, and the concomitant military defenses, would come three years later and on Ventusmens XVII, 123 RG, the dominion was born.

The region of Rubrum came to be synonymous with the dominion as a whole, as all parties were in agreement that Akademeia, to whom the former states paid fealty, was within Rubrum Region, and so the appellation was adopted by all in the interests of political convenience.

In 251 the Kingdom of Dracobaltia to the east of the dominion had expanded its sphere of influence from Rilochy to Roshana and met with Rubrum's forces at the border between Roshana and Eibon. Unconcerned with diplomacy, the Dracobaltians launched to battle against the dominion maintaining an initial advantage with their army of monsters, but due to their lack of organization, the Dracobaltians were unable to do more than force a retreat. Thus, despite their many nominal victories, the Dracobaltian Army made few actual military gains. The dominion, apprised by its enemy's lack of internal cooperation, implemented a divide-and-conquer strategy sending the royal units fleeing in droves and the dominion regained its territory.

The Vermilion Bird Crystal blessed its citizens with the ability to use magic, the gift passed down by Agito Cadets and cadets-turned-instructors propagating the Will of the Crystal. Once the four Crystal-States had been established, the dominion government followed the example set by the other nations to promote and oversee the blessings of their Crystal, as the denizens of Orience now needed to fear each other as Rubrum had learned from the war with the Dracobaltians.

When news of the Lorican-Militesi War reached Rubrum, the dominion government decided to strengthen its magic faculties to prepare against a potential assault, and the Sorcery Division was founded in 297 as an instance responsible for all magic matters. Its establishment also brought about changes in the organization of the dominion military; previously, the legionaries fought relying on their individual magical prowess, but now that the military could form squads around a single class of magic, units defined by characteristic spells were formed, such as Fire Squad or the Cure Squad.

Although the empire and alliance had been at war nearly since the founding of their respective governments, the kingdom and the dominion had enjoyed a period of peace. As Concordia solidified its military under the direction of the Five-Star Wardens, tensions between the two increased however, and and in 317 the kingdom dispatched a small unit to assault a city in the Eibon Region to test the strength of its dragon commands. Rubrum initiated a counteroffensive, and used the battlefield's close proximity to its advantage, deploying troops from all over the dominion.

The dominion's main force included mage regiments of 1,000 spellcasting soldiers each, and Rubrum deployed thirty-two of these units. The dominion legions dispatched a force of 40,000 troops to drive away the royal army. The Concordian Army deployed four mixed commands, each containing approximately 100 wyverns. Including reserve soldiers and monsters, the kingdom possessed a fighting force of 30,000.

The dominion army suffered casualties in the face of the wyverns' power and, even after calling for reinforcements, barely held its ground. After more than a month of fighting, a succession dispute in Concordia erupted into civil war, and the kingdom's army withdrew from Eibon.

After its poor performance against the royal wyverns, the dominion began searching for something stronger than the magic they had relied upon until then. Sorcery designated Eidolons as a type of weapon, otherworldly beasts of war that possessed their own intellect and will, and appeared only when summoned from another realm, vanishing after a period of time. Eidolons could only be deployed by forging a covenant via summoning portal, and in exchange for their services, the Eidolon demands the summoners' life energy.

According to legend, as if responding to the dominion's demand for more power, the first Eidolon summoned was even more formidable than a l'Cie. Rubrum deployed it to Lorica where the Eidolon toppled the Black Tortoise l'Cie at the cost of massive amounts of life energy, and the dominion foolishly sacrificed the lives of many innocent legionaries to this end.

Dominion officials sealed away this first Eidolon as anathema, and Rubrum decided to forge covenants with more agreeable beasts of war. The Eidolons secured a spot as the dominion's primary offensive tool, and in the year 339, Rubrum formed its first summoning regiment.

On the border between Milites and Rubrum, the Meroë Region west of Iscah was plagued with conflicts. In 343 a border dispute sparked a war between the two countries. The battle became a contest between magic and mechs, but the dominion's spells had little effect on the empire's magitek armor, and the imperial forces outnumbered the legions. Rubrum's front lines collapsed, and the empire nearly routed the dominion out of Meroë before the dominion's First Independent Summoning Regiment summoned Ifrit and led the dominion to victory.

Steeled and strengthened through centuries of war, each Crystal-State had developed formidable fighting forces convincing each head-of-state of the possibility of unifying Orience under one banner. The waning of the Crystals' power drove the four state leaders to expedite their war efforts, even if extracting energy from the Crystals exacerbated their deterioration. Fearing the weakening of the Crystals to be permanent, each nation sought to annihilate the others.

What became known as the Great Orience War began as a border dispute between the dominion and the empire. Concordia launched an assault on Rubrum's rear guard, and the dominion responded by summoning the Verboten Eidolon Leviathan. While Milites focused on attacking the dominion, Lorica deployed its troops to the empire. Having driven the dominion out of Meroë Region, the empire continued its advance into the Iscah Region. The Lorican king and the Black Paladins left Jubanla Region for Iscah to see how the King's Sword and Armor would fare in combat, special armaments developed with the power of the Black Tortoise Crystal. They were met by the Vermilion Bird l'Cie Kiyosaki who engaged the Lorican king, and it is said that the two warriors died impaled on each other's blades.

As the struggle continued, each nation's Crystal began deteriorating even more rapidly due to the replenishment the weapons, armor, and magic and through the creation of l'Cie. As the power of all four Crystals was waning, on Ventusmens IV in the year 359, the four nations ordered a ceasefire and began preparations for a peace treaty. Pax Codex prohibiting the use of l'Cie in war was drawn up in 361, and in 448 the four peristylia drew up a non-governmental pledge of non-aggression, known as the Fabula Pact.

In 432 the dominion government established a department specializing in military affairs: Central Command, as the Chancellor's obligation was to cultivate Agito, and his responsibilities as headmaster took precedence over his duties as head-of-state. Central Command replaced Akademeia in directing the army and was headed by the newly appointed commandant. Central Command took command of the dominion legions, and assumed responsibility for logistical issues and the development of new armaments. Agito Cadets now existed separately from the legions, and only joined the army for field training.

Central Command and the Akademeia administration established the Armory Guild to strengthen the military by development of new equipment and sanative supplies. In 533, the Second Armory Guild was established for crafting accessories that amplify the user's magic faculties. The Third Armory Guild (which became known as the Chocobo Ranch) was founded to design equipment for chocobos after the formation of Chocobo Squads in the year 689, and a Fourth to develop dominion dreadnoughts.

Once Marshal Cid Aulstyne had seized the Militesi throne, skirmishes began erupting between the empire and the dominion in border cities and villages gradually intensifying until the imperial army razed a dominion village in 841. The Dominion Central Command deployed a task force to assault an imperial city in retaliation. All believed the dispute would continue escalating, but a White Tiger l'Cie appeared near the border—and, fearing another clash between l'Cie—the leaders of both armies quieted their troops.

In 842 the empire devised a three-part campaign to invade the dominion. Brigadier General Qator Bashtar would lead a blitzkrieg attack on the Vermilion Peristylium from the ocean accompanied by the air force and a l'Cie-piloted magitek armor. In the second phase, the empire's main force would invade Iscah, where the dominion's primary defenses are stationed. The legions received orders to report to the capital moments after the battle began and retreated, allowing for the imperial troops to seize the dominion's western half.

The third phase involved deploying a fleet of dreadnoughts to infiltrate the dominion's central and eastern regions. The Rubrum legionaries fled to defend Akademeia, and the empire took over the central and eastern regions of the dominion unimpeded.

The empire's new weapon, the crystal jammer, paralyzes Akademeia, but the clandestine Class Zero, tutored by Akademeia's archsorceress herself, unaffected by the jammer, destroys it restoring power to the Vermilion Bird Crystal. After the cadets defeat the White Tiger Secundus l'Cie Qun'mi Tru'e, Qator withdraws the Militesi troops from Akademeia. However, as all legionaries had rallied at the capital, the rest of the dominion had been left defenseless, and Rubrum loses all of its territory.

After the war breaks out a Fifth and Sixth Armory Guild emerge to create and manufacture weapons and gear for the legionaries and the cadets, respectively. At the onset of the war, Rubrum's military was divided into three: the Western Legion on the Militesi border, the Central Legion defending Akademeia and its surroundings, and the Eastern Legion on the Concordian border. Each had six to ten mage divisions and a few independent summoning regiments commanding one or two Eidolons. As the dominion loses a majority of its territory however, the the three legions are effectively disbanded. Although the name "legion" remains Rubrum wages the war with a smaller army formed only of few divisions.

Left with no other choice, Dominion Central Command employs the newly conscripted cadets in the liberation of McTighe, a town on the outskirts of Akademeia, to secure base for offensive operations, test the cadets' skills in the field, and gauge the empire's reaction. The regrouped dominion legions establish a base of operations at McTighe, and initiate a large-scale offensive to reclaim the Rubrum Region by deploying the recently conscripted Agito Cadets.

After driving the imperial army out of the area around Akademeia, the dominion legions aim to reclaim more of their lost territory setting their sights on the stronghold of Togoreth. Rubrum pushes Milites back until the focus of battle shifts to retaking the fortress itself. The commandant dispatches the dominion's remaining reserve units—including Class Zero—to Togoreth, and the legions reclaim the base.

The White Tiger Primus l'Cie Nimbus arrives and is intercepted by the Vermilion Bird l'Cie Lord Zhuyu. The clash between the two l'Cie obliterates everything in the surrounding area, including the stronghold itself and the dominion seizes control of the Northern Togoreth Region.

After the battle both the dominion and the empire try to recover from the losses and neither can mobilize for a time. Because the dominion lost fewer personnel, the legions resume military activity sooner and set their new objective to liberate the town of Keziah. Given the base's remote location, Central Command postulated Milites would be unable to easily dispatch reinforcements to assist the small squad charged with defending the town.

Geography
Rubrum is located at south to southwest of the Orience map. It typically exhibits traits that of a South East Asian country, spotting hot weather and occasionally heavy misty rains.

Regions
Rubrum Region is the main dominion area where the capital, Akademeia, is located on a small island off the coast. Other towns in the area are McTighe, Corsi and Aqvi, with a cave teeming with coeurls near Corsi. To the east lies the Eibon Region with the Eibon military base and the town of Toguagh, and the eastern sand banks on the Innsmouth Region are uninhabited with the Innsmouth Coast being home to the colossal Adamantoises with occasional treasures washing up ashore.

Togoreth Region is to the west with the stronghold of Togoreth as its main location with the town of Keziah situated across a river. The Northern Togoreth Region has the Northern Corridor cave leading to the Jubanla Region on Lorican territory and its Mount Jubanla volcano, the town of Mi-Go the northernmost dominion town in this region.

Iscah Region lies east from Togoreth with the towns of Iscah and Rokol. Meroë Region is the dominion's westernmost region bordering with Milites with the town of Meroë situated near the Bethnel Caverns. Because the region borders the empire there are numerous army bases here.

Culture
Dominion towns are a fusion of the technologically advanced cities in Milites and the traditional Concordia, displaying a Victorian-esque style yet with a touch of futurism. Town entrances are guarded by dominion legionaries and the civilians don simple village clothing.

The language spoken in Rubrum appears to be a mix of British English, Chinese, and Japanese dialects. Names appear to have different uses of these dialects, as towns are majorly given English names, with Chinese and Japanese reserved for citizens (Khalia Chival VI being an exception).

While not displaying use of advanced technology Rubrum utilizes magical teleportation portals, particularly in Akademeia. Magic around the dominion is powered by the Vermilion Bird Crystal and Akademeia leads study into the Crystal and develops new magic spells and governs the use of Eidolons.

Military
Rubrum's main academic institution is Akademeia where students are enrolled by their parents to learn about combat and magic. The academy doubles up as a military base, training both military cadets and soldiers. Upon completion in their studies cadets can join the army. With enough experience in war, legionaries are promoted as commanding officers who train cadets and take an active role by leading their soldiers to victory. Alternatively, they may choose to be instructors for the juniors.

Dominion legionaries are typically covered in maroon cloaks, their bodies covered with plated armor and greaves from top to bottom. Female soldiers wear thigh-high stockings whereas male soldiers wear long pants. Although the armies are small in number and not as advanced nor refined as the Militesi or the Concordian armies, Rubrum legions possess a strong will and patriotism, one of the factors that makes Rubrum a force to be reckoned with.

Rubrum's lack of manpower and minimal firearms are made up with the power of magic and Eidolons the Vermilion Bird Crystal bestows. Soldiers prefer cold weapons over firearms, such as swords, in contrast to Milites, although their proficiency with weapons is not only restricted to that. There are those who choose to wield firearms, such Cater and King from Class Zero. Many, however, choose to fight through the use of magic, which allows for greater mobility.

The military's standard war god is Bahamut capable of taking down airborne enemies through a strong burst of Mega Salvo, although they are susceptible to damage and can be incapacitated.

When Milites attempts to take over the other Crystal-Nations, Akademeia's Agito Cadets are enrolled to the military. Although cadets and students can fight for their country, and are often seen as powerful force in missions, as a general rule they are not called to arms unless the legionaries are outnumbered and are required to assist them to defend the citizens. Khalia Chival VI once stated that while the students are willing to die for the country, he tries not to put them at risk, going as far as considering unethical means to defeat their enemy. While chocobos can take down enemies, they serve more as a mobility purpose in combat.

The Rubrum army deploys several airships, although like the chocobos, are mainly meant for the purpose of logistics. During the First Battle of Judecca the dominion makes use of magic cannons fired from the airships. Rubrum's airship fleet is known as the Crimson Wings. The Kisaragi-class cruisers are the most common dreadnoughts in the dominion. Among other types of craft, the Crimson Wings also employs small Yukikaze-class scout ships, large Shikishima-class carries, and high-speed Shimakaze-class corvettes.

Rubrum's main transports include airships and chocobos that are bred in a ranch separated from Akademeia. Airships are used to carry a legions of soldiers at once, allowing them to raid Militesi military bases. Some soldiers ride their chocobos to war.

Despite the great convenience in transportation, many soldiers prefer to travel on foot.

Musical Themes
"Divine Fire" is the theme of the Dominion of Rubrum. This theme is featured within the main theme of the game, "The Beginning of the End" and also have several arranged versions.

Etymology
The country's attributes and qualities, as well as symbolism to one of the animals of the Four Symbols is evident in its themes. Representing the south, the nation is situated in a southern most region of Orience. Representing the season of summer, the nation boasts a constant subtropical humid climate with little evidence of snow. Aligned with the Wu Xing element of Fire, the element has been regarded as a divine and/or supernatural force, and is thus regarded as mystical and revered.

The Vermilion Bird Crystal bestows upon the Power of Magic to manipulate nature's forces at will, and its Primus l'Cie wields the power of fire, being known as the Fire of the Vermilion Bird. Its animal the Fenghuang, the Phoenix taking its place. The animal, in Chinese symbolism, represents purity, virtuous character, prosperity, and bears all five colors of the Wu Xing, representing unity and order. It also represents heavenly power bestowed to the empress, likely hinting to Arecia Al-Rashia's true identity and role. The color red is an auspicious color in East Asian cultures. In addition, Japanese literary themes signify protagonists heroic and brave qualities through the color.