Zion

Zion is the main location of the series Realms. Zion is both the name of the city the main events take place, as well as the name of the world-wide country. Zion has jurisdiction over all of the Realm of Creation, although their territory is fragmented into various states and autonomous nations that operate quasi-independent from the rule of Zion City.

The people of Zion are proud and strong and adhere to a philosophy of peaceful coexistence and cooperation with the other nations of the world. Elemental Masters use their abilities for defense and industry and fiercely defended their cities in times of war. It also has a large economy based on modern industry, benefiting from new economic advancements, making it the most technologically advanced nation in the 12 Realms.

Formation
The land around what is now Zion was inhabited by warring tribes and small kingdoms who fought each other for no specific reason. As much of the continent was mountains and desert, many of the small kingdoms established their nations near the coast. Although officially established, many nations continued fighting and tried to conquer the entire coast. One nation, however, never declared war on any nation, and remained neutral. The city gained a nickname, that would later become it's official name, Zion, which meant "Haven".

Conquest
Over time, the monarchs of Zion became increasingly powerful and imperialistic, building extremely large walls around the city and creating the Army and began to unite and subjugate the numerous kingdoms and peoples of the later Empire. They left some kings and nobles in power, however, as long as they submitted to Zion. Eventually, the 12th Dragon King of Zion ended the unification wars in victory and crowned himself the Empire of Zion's first monarch, or Dragon Emperor. An early line of monarchs was the Han dynasty. Despite Zion's victory, the Dragon monarchs were unable to establish a centralist or authoritarian regime due to the kingdom's sheer size. As a result, the Empire fragmented by the time of the 18th Dragon Emperor's reign. Although the nation remained the size of the World, Zion no longer truly controlled the world, with nations ruling their own ethnic lands on behalf of the Imperial Government of Zion. Over time, the power of the monarchs would wax and wane, but none of them would truly control all of the empire.

Decline
During the early years of the Empire of Zion, the city went through an economic recession, which gave way to an economic miracle that industrialized the backwater port city. During this time, gangs and warring criminal groups created a network of criminal empires, most notably the TTT, the Triple Threat Triad. After 20 years, the new Dragon monarch, the 43rd Dragon Emperor decided to abolish the old constitution and declare himself an autocratic monarch. These gangster groups and unsatisfied citizens culminated in the Citizen's Revolution a month later. The Master of Creation threatened the 33rd Dragon Emperor to accept a new constitution and reduce his power to that of a figurehead. Over time, the monarchy declined and the government took more and more power.

During this time, the Hao Dynasty was overthrown after the death of the 44th Dragon monarch. His son, a 3-year old toddler, was deposed and banished as the Zha dynasty seized power. During the 105-year reign of the Zha dynasty, the city drastically improved as many criminal gangs were dissolved, and the modern skyline of Zion was formed. Although many technological advancements were made, after the reign of the 39th and 40th Dragon Emperors, the centralized government fell. Similar to the Hao dynasty before them, weak child emperors and corrupt Prime Ministers culminated in a coup that installed the current Huo-Long dynasty.

Huo-Long Dynasty and Great War
After the installment of the Huo-Long dynasty (literally Fire Dragon), the 45th Dragon Emperor installed a conservative government, making himself the de-facto dictator of the city and nation. However, the conservative regime helped the nation gain a strong leader they have not had for so long. For the 56-reign of the 45th and 46th emperors, the regime reached its peak. During the reign of the 46th emperor, the Lordship of Azaria, a subnational Lordship that had been industrializing, attacked and invaded Zion, commencing the Great Civil War. During the 30 years that the world was at war with Azaria, Zion proved to be a strong ally to the World Alliance, although it's army had been crippled by the many revolts. During this time, Prime Minister Cha recognized his chance to seize power over the empire and made the new 18-year old Emperor Andrew his puppet. Using the Ming Cha, a secret police created by Prime Minister Cha himself, Cha suppressed knowledge about the war in order to maintain social order and a stable economy, effectively outlawing every mention of it within the city walls and preventing the emperor from even learning about its existence. However, outside the safety of the walls and away from the watchful Ming Cha, disorder in the midst of the war was pervasive; in some areas, officials and soldiers abused their power by bullying and extorting the local population. Although it's purpose was to maintain order where the local police couldn't, the Ming Cha grew to be corrupt and a secret force to the corrupt Prime Minister Cha.

Soon, the Elemental Alliance, comprised of the current elemental masters predecessors stormed the palace and forcibly ended the Ming Cha Conspiracy. Prime Minister Cha was arrested and the 34-year old emperor assumed emergency powers. Emperor Andrew's power was briefly restored and Cha imprisoned. Despite this, the Ming Cha remained loyal to Prime Minister Cha, as the secret police feared that the emperor would deprive it of its power.

Siege and fall
At the same time, the Azarian army laid siege to Zion. Led by Crown Prince Amnon, the army penetrated the outer ground walls in 600 days, which toppled morale in the city due to the city being known as "impenetrable". Although a wall fell, the seven more walls that led into the city proved the task impossible, by all accounts. The Imperial Army of Zion jumped over the walls during the Azarian lunchtime and slaughtered half of them, forcing most of the army to flee towards the hills and Si Wong desert and Crown Prince Amnon to surrender. After being captured, his mind was reprogrammed by a Brainwashing device, and he defected to Zion and the World Alliance.

Without a leader, the remains of the Zion siege returned to Azaria, where they were all tortured or executed for treason. After that, the Emperor of Azaria sent Prince Asa, now Crown Prince after the betrayal of Amnon, to lead the army to Zion and subjugate the city one and for all. Using cannons, airships, and bombs, the walls fell in a matter of days, and the Azarian army rushed through. However, the citizens and army barricaded each street corner and block, making the Azarian army unable to march through the city and lay claim to it. While many people stayed on their respective barricades and fought the soldiers using whatever they had, many people such as little kids, pregnant women, babies, and seniors boarded a train through the mountains and towards the south, which had not been occupied yet.

After a month of capturing block by block of Zion, the Azarian army finally reached the Government Palace. In a symbolic act, Crown Prince Asa burned the flag of Zion and raised the flag of Azaria over the palace, securing their control over the city, and thus, the entire empire. Turf wars continued throughout the ending of the war as the army attempted to reach the Imperial Palace to secure the entire city. The Palace fell in a couple of weeks, and the government, Imperial family, and many citizens fled the city.

Liberation and Absolutist regime
During the final stages of the Great War, half of the Elemental Alliance gathered near the outside of the walls of Zion a week prior to the planned invasion. There, the Elemental Alliance, the remains of the Imperial Guards, the Emperor, and the Order of the Golden Phoenix reunited and planned the joint liberation. Soon, it became clear that if the Great War was to end, Azaria would need to be decisively defeated at Zion.

Upon the invasion day, the joint forces laid siege to the city. With a single powerful blast, the Elemental Master of Fire Andriette breached the walls. The Elemental Masters and the Order promptly advanced toward the wall to enter the city. Dozens of Azarian soldiers from atop the walls rained wave of wave of heavy rocks, flaming arrows, and even boiling oil down at the invading army with no effect, and the forces broke into Zion. Heavy fighting took place at the main plaza and the streets became littered with broken down shells of the occupiers' tundra tanks. The Order advanced to the center of Zion as the retreating army was encircled in hundreds of pockets throughout the city. Hours of intense combat passed, lasting throughout the night, but the outcome became clear. Constantine burned the Fire Nation flag that hung over the Imperial Palace, symbolizing that the Empire of Zion was free once again with the Azarian defeat, and by morning, Zion had been fully liberated.

Following Dragon Emperor Andrew's death, his first-born son, the Elemental Master of Amber Constantine was groomed to assumed power. However, his younger brother, Dragases, the Elemental Master of Destruction staged a coup and declared himself Dragon Emperor without resistance from Constantine, whom he banished. Dragases revised many policies of his father, and preferred to rule as an autocrat for his own benefit. Many parts of the Empire continued to suffer from great poverty and became increasingly outpaced in regards to technology and economy when compared to Azaria, Azaria, and the North and South Poles, due to a lack of funds attributed to the development by Emperor Dragases. Instead of alleviating the crisis, Dragases used the Ming Cha to silence dissidents and expanded his military. Smaller insurgencies led by barbarians also erupted, as rebels prevented the collection of excessive taxes.

Fomented by increasing social conflicts under Dragases' authoritarian regime, after the murder of the Dragon Emperor in battle with the Elemental Masters, the move sparked an open revolt of Zion's lower class citizens. Since Dragases had stripped the bureaucracy of all meaningful power and claimed it for himself, there was nobody able to effectively step in and maintain order after his death, causing a total collapse of social order all across Zion. Many loyalists to the monarchy went into hiding and almost all royal artifacts were lost in the looting that pursued, with a single earring being one of the few remaining items.

100 Day Anarchy and restoration
After the death of Dragases, the city was plunged into anarchy and chaos. The multiple palaces were looted and the city burned. During this time, the Elemental Masters restored order throughout the city, whereas the police and the government failed to do so. After peace returned to the city, Dragases was banished to the Realm of Darkness and Light. Anthony was restored to his position as Dragon Prince and was subsequently crowned Dragon Emperor.

Reunification of the Empire
Although Zion itself returned to it's peaceful state, the subdivisions around it remained under chaos. Anthony organized a unit of the Imperial Army to stabilize the Empire, but a few states that remained quasi-independent included the Kingdom of Yi and the Edenite Kingdom. To bring them back towards the jurisdiction of Zion, Anthony and the Elemental Masters journeyed to the states that had refused to rejoin the empire. Once there, Anthony pressured the ruler of the state to rejoin the Empire.

Subdivisions
Zion is divided into almost 50 subnational kingdoms, states, cliques, free cities, and territories. Out of the near-50 subdivisions, however, only about a dozen are known. Many of the subdivisions are kingdoms, ruled by a subnational monarch who acts as the regional ruler of the subdivision. Some subnational monarchs include the King of Yi, and the Queen of Shu.