|  Author | Topic: The Kingdoms (Read 643 times) |
Varian Discord
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Varian Discord
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Lord of Scai
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Karma: 0 |  | Re: The Kingdoms
« Reply #1 on Apr 15, 2006, 8:26pm » | |
Scai - The Oldest established kingdom, with the longest record of peace time. They have the most resources of all the nations, and so find little need to use them. The massiveness of the land normally strikes fear into those who may propose to attack it. Since they stretch over such a vast area, they can pull numerous troops out of their lands. Recruiting all males able to wield a weapon, if needed. Though usually they train a small, and according to them, elite army just in case.
- - The cities are not the most beautiful by the nature that they are not exactly well kept, their beauty lies in how old the architecture is. People live in small family units. Parents and children, only occasionally adding grandparents into the household. This is because the buildings are small and close together in the cities, and few and far between in the country side.
- - They have had a succession of Oligarchies, in which one family, the Scai'Drays have been the most prominent in the ruling. This originated because though the years the rule had been usually passed down to the eldest sons of the Scai family. Then, the eldest son married and produced a female heir, and he only had a sister who married into the Dray's family. The Scai's daughter had to marry young and her husband took rule, but her son still kept her name. He came into rule after her. This, of course, enraged the Drays because the sister and her husband felt they should have ruled since they were of age. Finally, to end this problem, generations later, the families intermarried once more, and the heir gained the last name Scai'Dray.
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Varian Discord
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Lord of Scai
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Karma: 0 | | Re: The Kingdoms
« Reply #2 on Apr 17, 2006, 8:42pm » | |
Hlelicor - Most militant kingdom of the four. Their army and navy is impressive not so much in size, but by it's skill. Men are trained from a young age, and women can too, if they prove themselves. Women are allowed to play any role in their society, and are regarded highly as either wives or warriors. They have taken over two small countries, Fval and Nelno, though they have barely doubled the size of this Nation. Hlelicor is the second smalled nation.
- - The home lives in this nation are very simple. The women who decide to be wives, and warriors can be too it's just not as often, remain at home all their lives learning how to take care of a household. Men are allowed to find their wives after surviving their first battle, a sort of right of passage. (In times of peace, there often will be tournaments to see which men can marry and which must submit their rights to have a wife.) They marry and bed their wives, and some are allowed to remain home, but most do not. Most men remain living in barracks until their mid thirties, when they are allowed to return home and are only called into war as reserves. Since this is the case, women often live with their mothers, grandmothers and sisters, so families are in a way extended. Women in the army are allowed to join and leave whenever they please, the only restrictions being if they have a child they can not join, or if they become impregnated while in the army, they must stop until they have a son who is sent off to train. If they have a daughter, they must remain and teach her how to be a woman.
- - The government is a Tyranny, and the eldest child of the ruler becomes the successor, they do not discriminate against gender in this case. The Ruler usually marries the best fighter of the opposing gender, as to keep the families blood line strong, literally.
**Note: Hlelicor is currently supporting prohibition.
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Varian Discord
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Lord of Scai
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Karma: 0 | | Re: The Kingdoms
« Reply #3 on Apr 17, 2006, 8:42pm » | |
Jyan - This is the island nation, and therefore, the smallest nation. It is an island chain, with three main islands, the biggest is technically a peninsula, and it is attached to the second biggest at low tide by a sandy stretch of beach. The third is only a short boat ride away. The others are just dotted about, creating good naval bases. Their ships are the biggest and the fastest, probably because of the need for that. Also because they also are the best at making fabric strong enough to make sails to pull their ships.
- - This Nation probably has the most beautiful building structures. They are carved intricately out of stone, and placed neatly together. The structures show intelligence and urban planning. There is enough space through the streets, and the buildings are not on top of each other. Most of the populations live on the sea ports, which are numerous and are hot spots for trade and black markets. The third and smallest of the main islands contains the house hold of the rulers...
- - The ruling family is a small, inbred family. They often are ill because of family disease, but are in general a ruling family. They only marry those of noble blood, and that is a short list. It is believed that the family holds a power that no other person does, and that is why they are bound to the ocean. A woman of the sea, a mermaid of sorts fell in love with the first noble prince of Jyan, and promised him anything he desired, she assumed he would ask for her heart, but he asked for the power to tame the sea. As a desperate attempt to bind herself to him, she gave him the power to him and his bloodline, ending her own life. This is often thought to be just a myth by most people.
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Varian Discord
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Lord of Scai
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Karma: 0 | | Re: The Kingdoms
« Reply #4 on Apr 17, 2006, 8:42pm » | |
Phidah -
- - The area of land along the sea, it has one natural occurring port which is exactly what the inhabitants would want. It is just a controllable amount of people coming in and out of the kingdom. Few care to travel by foot. The land is probably the most cared for, the most lavish of it all. Trees everywhere, but it isn't quite woodlands.
- - The buildings are old too, the most predominate feature being tall columns. The Royal family, meaning the women and their mates, live within the Palace.
- - The kingdom is in a way, opposite from Scai. They have an extreme feminist view of life. Women have choice and rule over everything, as men became fewer and fewer in population. Since they were unable to do all the work necessary, the women slowly took over, thousands of years ago. Now women have the ability to choose to take on what ever role they please, while men are thought to be the ones who breed and are needed to take care of the children. They often weave and such. Men are often watched over, and traditionally wear robes, not pants, for easy access. Most women have the view that men are inferior, but some hold an affinity for them and find them as equals.
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Varian Discord
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Lord of Scai
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Karma: 0 | | Re: The Kingdoms
« Reply #5 on Apr 17, 2006, 8:43pm » | |
Onis is a country recuperating from civil war. The mostly nomadic people were once renowned for their fighting prowess and well-bred horses. However, Hlelicore invaded and won ninety-four years ago, during a crop blight where disease was rampant. Onis' people almost died out in the fighting that ensued. Hlelicore left a steward there, and his descendants later began to claim themselves as nobility. The ruling family ran a tyrannical circus, performing experiments on "political prisoners" to make various discoveries about the nature of magic. Fifty years ago, the citizens rose up against them, starting a bloody and long civil war. The majority of the population fighting at that point was under twenty-five years old. In the end, the Onisians won out, and the false government was destroyed five years ago at their victory.
-- Fighting is no joke to Onis; their culture was developed around it. Each Onis child at fourteen knows the seven rekae, the base for all the fighting styles. At sixteen (partial acceptance as an adult), they must have learned four out of twenty neikae, the more advanced fighting styles, and at least one sukae, or basic martial arts. At eighteen (full adulthood) they must have mastered five out of ten sukae, ten out of twenty neikae, and the rekae (including previous years). The final remaining set of stances are called the five jykae, and are extremely taxing on the mind and body to learn. Only rare individuals master all of the forms in their lifetime. Jykae are a combination of magic and physical movement, and are often mistaken for an intricate dance when a master uses them. [-- A basic list of all the fighting forms will be posted later --]
-- Onis was a nomadic nation up until Hlelicore occupation, and the people remain that way. As such, when the steward and his family were killed, the palace and city they had built were both destroyed and reduced to rubble. There are limited forges in the mountains, but those are mostly caves. Each tribe takes turns for guarding and smithing weapons for a year at a time, spreading the wealth amongst the tribes. Onisian steel is unrivalled in strength and sharpness, but they will not trade it with other nations or share their secrets in forging it. Anyone who wants a weapon made must supply his or her own materials, so most every Onisian has some mining knowledge. The mountains are rich in metals, however, so they often don't have to venture that far in.
-- Nomadic "tribes" are groups of five separate families, which includes grandparents and immediate family members. Tribes often cross each others' paths or travel in each others' company for a while. There are no caravans; anything that cannot be carried in a hurry is unimportant and left behind. Onisians have few belongings, but everything is precious. They live on horseback, a sturdy breed that has long adapted to the cold conditions of the mountains. Men and women are equal in Onis, having never understood the concept of one sex being weaker than the other. Each takes an equal responsibility for the duties of the family. Marriage is held purely with the consent of both partners; marrying off one's children for trade or other advantages is strictly forbidden. As a side note, all boys and girls fashion a charm against pregnancy or impregnating when they taste the blood of their first kill, which they wear until they are married. This is done with the help of the tribe's sai-mol. Once this is complete, they are free to celebrate the act of sex once they achieve full acceptance as an adult.
-- Each tribe has five separate holy people, usually one from each family: cha-min, the fire-dancer, in charge of the hunt, warmth and light; sai-mol, the earth-singer, in charge of life, death, and all that lies between; nu-mol, the water-singer, in charge of sustaining the world and the tribe; ku-min, the wind-dancer, in charge of the hunt, the breath and the word; li-nah, seeker of the stars, who speaks with spirits. Holy people are such for life, usually reincarnated from the soul of the previous one. [--More information will be posted on their specific roles later.--]
-- As an additional note, all Onisians have two parts to their names; their given name from their parents, and a "creature-spirit" name. The creature they have chosen, be it mythical or real, is tied deeply to their spirit and nature. As another note, all Onisians have darker skintones.
-- Terrain in Onis is mountainous and pine forest region—as a result, invading armies often get lost and turned around immediately after trying to chase after retreating Onisians. Winters are long and cold with plenty of heavy snow, requiring stashes of food hidden away in the mountains. The wildlife is large and volatile, including bears and cougars, wolf packs and wildcats. Onisians only kill game animals like deer, caribou, moose, or rabbits. They use every part of any animal they kill. Having no ties to location at all, they can quickly relocate if an angry mountain lion comes by.
-- The current leader of Onis is the Raeyn-Yol, Aylen the Blood Wolf, the woman who led her people to victory in spite of her evident youth. She is no real government figure in the sense of the word—Raeyn-Yol means "protector of the people." As such, she is more of a figurehead that the people will follow in troubled times. She currently trains a willing portion of her people as elite "mercenaries" to be hired by other nations for currency to trade for much-needed grain. They are valuable... to anyone who can afford their price. It's been said that they'll give a discount for any mission interfering with Hlelicore, and their services cannot be bought by any sum of money from that kingdom.
(Kudos to shike for putting me to shame. :-D)
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