"For Honor, Order and Duty"
Also known as: Knights of Light.
Briefly: A feudal Holy Empire guarded by medieval knights and priests, with access to Light Magic and elite Angel troops.
Sources of inspiration: Medieval Western Europe (general atmosphere and design), the Roman Empire (military organization and "Pax Romana" concept, i.e., peace within the empire modeled after the Roman Empire), Templars (embodiment of a religious mission), Victorian England (strict class division)
Colors: azure blue, white, gold.
Symbolism: the "solar cross", sun, falcon, sword.
Revered deities: Elrath, the Dragon of Light and his first servants — the Angels.
Foundations of worldview: Law and Order above Good and Justice.
Country/kingdom: Holy Empire.
Capital: Falcon's Reach
Social organization: The system of government in the Holy Empire is a feudal theocracy. In theory, the Emperor has absolute power, but in practice, the empire's territory is divided into 6 duchies, dozens of smaller estates, at least 9 so-called "independent states," and so on, so the Emperor must spend a great deal of time managing his numerous nobility. Often, some controlled territories organize riots and rebellions; however, this rarely ends in serious bloodshed. The theocratic system of government has various prerequisites, but the main one is the presence of Angels, the chosen children of Elrath. Although many of them perished in ancient wars, their energy and charisma inclined the people living in their ancestral territories to abandon the worship of Sylass, the Dragon of Air, in favor of Elrath. Angels are rarely encountered in the Holy Empire, but they played a major role in its history and culture.
Architecture: *to be added later*
Magic: The Haven relies exclusively on Light Magic, the "sacred" magic of Elrath and his ideals of Truth, Justice, and Purity.
Haven Strategy: "Not a step back" The troops of the Haven feel perfectly comfortable in defense and are known for forcing their enemies to fight on territory they deem more advantageous. Haven generals focus on prolonged defensive clashes, reducing the damage dealt by the opponent as much as possible. The Haven hero and special creature abilities act to weaken, absorb, and redirect enemy attacks in order to reduce incoming damage.
Strengths: mass positive spells (Mass buffs) and healing abilities, temporary and full immunity to same damage (racial ability), unit survivability, high morale and high retaliation damage.
Weaknesses: ranged combat, relatively low damage.
Racial ability: Guardian Angel — a friendly squad becomes invulnerable to physical damage and various negative effects.
The best weapons of the Haven are healing and defense, so the strike must be focused on the enemy squads that are most dangerous in terms of dealing damage, to reach the point where the enemy can be "outhealed" (not entirely sure, but it seems this refers to the moment when the restoration of hit points of one's own troops begins to exceed the damage dealt by the enemy).
Enemy creatures capable of neutralizing or dealing great damage to Haven support troops should also be among the priority targets.
Canonical Haven hero: Paladin (Sword Hero) Knights of the Empire whose faith in Elrath is no less than that of the Priests of Light. In exchange for their devotion, they gain the ability to bring "Miracles" into their melee-oriented abilities, thereby copying the power provided by Light Magic.