The Unified Kingdom

The Unified Kingdom (or UK for short) is the largest and also the most technologically and industrially advanced country on the continent of Arcanum, in the setting's present day.

The capital of the Unified Kingdom is Tarant, the largest and most industrialised metropolis of the entire continent. Due to its sheer size, the country is inhabited by almost all the races typical of Arcanum, the most common of these being humans, half-elves, half-orcs, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and to a lesser extent, elves, half-ogres and orcs.

Despite its name, it is technically not a monarchy anymore, as the constitutional monarch was ousted some years before the events of the game's storyline. The Unified Kingdom is run as a de facto republic, though its official name has been kept out of tradition. One of the most powerful governmental bodies in the Unified Kingdom is the Industrial Council.

The Unified Kingdom has the most advanced rail network in the known world. Its early adoption of the steam engine, as well as innovations in firearms and military tactics, have made it a formiddable foe to the other countries and polities of Arcanum.

Several decades before the beginning of the game's storyline, during the period of the Great Wars between the UK and the smaller Kingdom of Cumbria to the south, the Unified Kingdom scored a series of devastating military victories on the more traditionalist Cumbria, greatly decimating its armies and nobility and even annexing some of its northern territories. Since then, Cumbria has fallen into severe socio-economic decline. The bitter legacy of the wars between the two states and Cumbria's defeat fuels the Cumbrian monarchy's continued resentment towards any modern technology.

Though the Unified Kingdom is on the surface politically and militarily powerful and economically prosperous, the player character can discover the country is often rife with corruption and shady political scheming. The industrial revolution also deepened the inequality of Arcanum's races and social classes, especially in the big cities, and this is causing a growing sense of tension.

Settlements

The known settlements of The Unified Kingdom.

• Cities
  • Tarant (capital)
• Towns
  • Ashbury
  • Stillwater
  • Shrouded Hills
  • Black Root (annexed from Cumbria after the Great Wars)
• Villages
  • Vooriden
• Hamlets and camps
  • Arbalah's House
  • Simon Fahrkus' Shack

Trivia

The name and many of the features of the Unified Kingdom are an obvious reference to the real world's United Kingdom, specifically during the industrial revolution and social changes of the 19th century.

Though there are many obvious parallels between the two (including the London-like metropolis of Tarant), Arcanum's fantasy UK is even more of a "crowned republic" than the real world United Kingdom.

Gallery

The kingdom's location on the continent

Busy industry in the Unified Kingdom's capital

Bird's eye view map of Tarant, the capital of the Unified Kingdom

Bird's eye view map of Ashbury, a large town on the Unified Kingdom's east coast

Bird's eye view map of Stillwater, a town in the north of the UK, near the Grey Mountains

Bird's eye view map of Shrouded Hills, ore mining town in the southeast of the UK, under the Stonewall Range

Bird's eye view map of Black Root, coastal port town annexed from Cumbria in the aftermath of the Great Wars

Bird's eye view map of Vooriden, a small village in the southeastern Morbihan Plains

See also

• Kingdom of Cumbria - The Unified Kingdom's southern neighbour and old rival.
• Kingdom of Arland - A smaller monarchy further to the south of Cumbria.
• Regions - The geographic regions of Arcanum.