In Arcardia there are three main factions; The Anerc Katafygio, the Arkxin Republic, and the Vounomada. The Anerc Katafygio (or Anerc) was the first founded of the three, as it came about while The Pale was still growing, in the year 3002. Anerc was founded by the Seraphs and the Dragons. During this time, a split off group who named themselves the Arkxin emerged, founded by the Serpents. Almost 100 years later, after Arcardia was colonised and The Pale came to a stop, the Vounomada started to take a grip of the North Outlands- founded by The Wyverns and their now healing population.
Now, in the year 3302...
The Anerc Katafygio, or simply Anerc, is the name of the government that has control of the Mainlands and a fair amount of the Outlands. They are the ruling government of Arcardia, with current leader, Pauri - A Seraph, or Divine Dragon of the Light Bringers Clan. Anerc Katafygio simply means 'new refuge', from a language that has long been lost to time - it was the main group that colonised Arcardia and called it their new home as the rest of the world was engulfed by The Pale. People who live under the Anerc Katafygio are called Mainlanders.
The main language spoken under Anerc is Mainlands Script - and as such has become a lingua franca of Arcardia.
Anerc Katafygio's entire philosophy is that Arcane magic was what was wrong with the world and is what caused The Pale. It is strictly prohibited in any region they can control, and punishment for studying or practising such magic is often met with execution. Anerc present themselves as a safe haven, as peace keepers, and as the preservers of nature - anyone who challenges them or their beliefs, threatens their power, are enemies of reality as it's known.
Anerc, despite their extreamly strict ruling over Arcane magic however, are very obsessed with Ichor and the seven elements. The elites of Anerc are all practiced magic users with very magically powerful lineages - all of them are Mono Elementals (or 'linked' as Anerc offically calls them) and are purebreed ones at that. Mainlanders care a lot about pure bloodlines. They seldom unite (marry) with others of different elements to their own, in some attempts to achieve strong and pure links to Ichor. Interspecies relationships are also of course heavily looked down upon, and as such, so are hybrids.
The elites of Anerc are Seraphs, Dragons, and as an honorable mention, Equines. Seraphs are at the top, and are officially recognised as 'Divine Dragons' in Anerc, whilst the rest of Arcardia generally refers to them as Seraphs or sometimes Quetzalcornu, which translates to 'multi-winged' in old script. The Seraphs don't much like that term and often try to claim it as being a 'slur'.
The oppressed of Anerc are Omni Elementals, or as they are officially called under Anerc, the Unlinked. This includes the Drakes, Lindwurms, Calicos, and the Avians. These four races are considered the lowest class, specifically the Drakes, who have been enslaved by the Dragons through much of their history. Other such races that receive the short end of the stick despite being Mono Elementals are the Serpents, Wyverns, Chimeras and Leviathans. The Faes are seldom seen in Arcardia and thus do not pose much of a threat, so the elite do tend to tolerate them at times.
Whilst Anerc is not a religious state, they have a main religion that is often practised there; Ouranios - and they are known to not be very tolerant of essentially any other religions around Arcardia, often using it as another tool to oppress.
Anerc is structured as an autocracy, and could be argued as being technocratic... just with magic instead. It is ruled by a council of eight members, one of each element, and the head whos element is random. This council is strictly made up of Seraphs who have merged with their element, with lower positions outside of the eight given to either Dragons or Equines.
Council members are voted in by the elite class, not by the general public. Once voted in, a member is a part of the council until their retirement or passing, or they are kicked out by vote from the other council members. The final say however is given by the head member. Though ruling is not determined by blood line, the council members are essentially treated like royalty. As one must be merged with their element to be a member, they often view themselves as having a divine right to rule, especially given the pretense Anerc was founded over. That being said however, nepotism is far from uncommon within the council and other high ranking positions. Powerful clans (families) have a very strong grip over these systems.
Anerc functions sort of as a capitalist government... or actually not really. Much of their facilities, produce, etc. are government owned, and they have a planned economy- but many of these facilities are still bared off. In Anerc, you must earn your right to live, so poverty, homelessness and illiteracy runs rampant- and as such these poorer areas are tucked away in corners. Rich areas are rich, and poor areas are... not doing so hot!
Anerc is the richest government in Arcardia, and yet some of the poorest people live in their states.
Being magically capable is a good way to try and climb up the ranks- those jobs pay well... but that only works if you're a Mono Elemental, and definitely not a Wyvern or anything like that. There are some who get through however, and they're often used as pawns- to sell a false sense of hope to those in lower classes.
The Arkxin Republic are a branch off from the Anerc some 300 hundred years ago. It was founded mainly by the Serpents, which now have gained a fair amount of control of the Outlands, mostly in the South. It is currently lead by Prime Vigo, a Serpent. Though they aren't nearly as powerful as the Anerc, and they are definitely not a very rich nation, they are not worth the recourses to Anerc to carry out any sort of invasion. Starting a war with them would not only be a bad move in terms of money and time, but it would not be received well. Anerc has tried to solidify control over them many times throughout the centuries, just through other means. Despite their bad blood however, Anerc and Arkxin do trade with eachother still.
Languages spoken in the Arkxin Republic are the Serpents Script, Varians Script, and Larians Script.
The Arkxin Republic kind of exist as a counter to Anerc... so that is their whole thing. They don't like Anerc, and they offer safety to those often oppressed under it. It is commonly known that the general public living in the Arkxin is not friendly to Mainlanders, specifically Seraphs, Dragons and Equines. It could be argued that in much of the Outlands in general, Mainlanders are viewed in a rather negative light.
That being said, like Anerc, Arkxin are also not very fond of Arcane, they have very similar laws surrounding the study and practice of it- but that's where its similarities end. In the Arkxin Republic, the terms 'Omni' and 'Mono' are recognised, and as such are treated as equal, on paper at least. Omni Elementals are allowed, encouraged even, to practice magic; which under Anerc would be labelled as 'dark magic'. They have many scholars and masters of Ichor who are indeed Omni Elementals.
Despite Arkxin's beliefs however, they are also known to be very selfish. They often don't involve themselves in conflict even if they have all the means to. They are currently just very focused on building their economy.
Arkxin, unlike Anerc, is ruled by a 'Prime' who gets voted in by the public. They get cycled every five years, but the current Prime, Vigo, has been voted in twice now. Arkxin however has many levels of governing. While Vigo is the head of their state, they aren't the be all end all. Each district has their own council within it who also get voted in, allowing more direct decision making for the people. Arkxin also has a lot of 'anti-corruption' laws, so compared to Anerc, Arkxin's government members get kicked out rather frequently.
With all that said, however, Arkxin has never had a Prime that wasn't a Serpent.. and they like keeping it that way. They're fine with having other leaders of different species, but not their head of state. Though they are generally, on paper, very diverse, Arkxin is for the Serpents, first... which has been something they get criticized for a lot.
Another massive issue within the Arkxin Republic is religion. Initially they supported it, but over time they've grown less tolerant of any kind of religion, viewing it as a 'sedative of the people'. Many people of course still practice religion there, it's just made it more difficult, and lead a lot of people to turn away from Arkxin.
It functions somewhat similarly to Anerc Katafygio's economy, just, less shit. Much of their facilities are government owned, like Anerc, and their economy is planned. Unlike Anerc however, Arkxin believe it is a right of living to have housing, access to clean water, food, education, and a job... so much of this is provided by the government by default. Granted the quality of such facilities can be dodgy as Arkxin really don't have a lot of money, but the homelessness rate is reported to be almost at zero. That, and the rate of illiteracy is extreamly low as well.