Vridara

| General | History | Geopolitical | Military | Culture |
| Geographics | Economics | Languages | Religeon |

Capital: Brevit National Alignment: NG Population: 17 million Size: 1.2 million square miles Government: Empire Ruler: King Dal Gonot Law: Duchal tradition Coin: chit (three-sided)

General: Vridara is a strong empire on the western shores of Lake Kiriath. The empire is currently ruled by King Dal Gonot, who has ruled for twenty years, keeping his dukes in line with his royal guard and careful control of the merchants' guilds. Vridara has good relations with its neighbors to the south, the Toomaran Tribes, and traders from both nations are fairly common. Relations with the Amaran Tribes to the west are a bit more strained, more due to alienation of ideas and cultural differences than anything else. The empire is considered a minor ocean-going power in the Sea of Kiriath, with a moderate trading fleet and small navy. Vridara's armies are considered well-trained, though it maintains few garrisons away from home.

History: Prior to the Storm Wars, the Granite Mountains were considered the western edge of civilization. Just over the mountains, and isolated from the rest of the world in most respects, were the Vridaran Forests. The forests were inhabited by several feudal lords, but their hold was tenuous, and their peasants were constantly endangered by both both the dangers of the forests, and the nomadic tribes of the Amar Savanna and the Dalanath Plains. After the death of Avard Karatikan, the western reaches came to be considered as the domain of savages and wizards that would try to escape the Inquisition. The First Crusade went through the northern end of the Granite Mountains, and through the lands of the Vridaran Forests; the crusaders and their organizers brought considerable prosperity to the various duchies and baronies through the forests, buying food and goods before heading west. On their return, the First Crusaders bought land with the wealth they secured from the ograns, as well as marrying many of the locals.

The various lands were envigorated by the fresh influx of wealth and soldiers, and petty squabbles soon erupted into war. Each separate ruler sought to conquer his neighbor, and solidify his hold on the land. After nearly a century of smaller wars and battles, a king finally emerged that controlled all of the dukes under him. Forcing them to swear loyalty and fealty, King Arnold Agrin began the reign of the Vridaran Empire in 950 Avard. Some trade happened with the eastern kingdoms, either by sea or overland, through the lands held by the Granite Clan of dwarves. Influenced by dwarven construction and eastern philosophies, Mikindim and Rahne became the dominant deities in Vridara.

Several border skirmishes occurred between the Toomaran Tribes and Vridara, as the fertile prairie plains appeared appatizing to the land-hungry Vridarans. The Toomaran cavalry's ability to strike hard and then fade away into the plains made it virtually impossible for the Vridarans to hold any land. The Vridaran forests and heavily fortified castles made it impossible for the Toomarans to invade and exact an appopriate revenge, so blood feuds lasted for decades.

In 1021, the Autumn Earth Tribe captured the wife of the Earl of Sorel. Tales and legends of attrocities galvanized the Vridaran lords, and they struck back against all the Toomaran Tribes with a ferocity akin to their crusading fathers. At the head of the attacks was a knight armed with the Princess Sword -- a two-handed, silvery blade, said to have a woman carved into the handle. The Princess Sword led the Vridaran forces in a number of battles, beating back the Autumn Earth Tribe, and leading the empire's forces even into the Night Sky and Pale Snow Tribes. During the winter, the war was forced to a stand still by a harder than normal northerly that blanketed the ground with thick snow and ice.

In the spring of 1022, the Princess Sword and its Knight Errant changed sides -- led by the wife of the Earl of Sorel. A large portion of the Vridaran nobility was wiped out in Toomaran territory, and a coup quickly occurred back in the capital, Brevit. The new king of Vridara quickly sued for peace, and the Toomaran Overchief agreed. The Earl of Sorel, leading a rogue detachment of knights bent on revenge, attempted to thwart the peace process. The Earl, his wife, and her champion wielding the Princess Sword were all slain by both the Toomarans and the Vridaran Royal Guard. The peace process continued on; because of the respect warriors on both side had accrued, the peace was a lasting one. Trade began, tentatively at first, and then with more force.

Unable to take land to the south, the Vridarans attempted to take land from the less nomadic Amaran Tribes, but their powerful druids and rangers held them back. Minor skirmishes continue to the present day between the Vridaran Empire and the Amarans.

Kings have come and gone through the four-hundred year history of the young nation. The empire lives on, strong in traditions and faith, with a powerful military spirit and a very cautious king. During the Inquisition, a great many Seekers and priests moved into the empire from over the Granite Mountains. During the War of the Undead, the eastern mountains were destroyed, leaving behind scattered fragments and lowlying hills. The Molten Mountains still hold some remnants of the Granite Clan of dwarves, but evil creatures and many undead keep treasure-seekers at a minimum. Many undead moved through the empire towards the east in a mass migration, but for the most part, Vridara's power is still intact.

Geopolitical: Vridara maintains strong trade ties with the Toomarans; however, centuries of war and vast cultural differences keep the two nations from being more than that. Fiercely independant, the empire of Vridara is unlikely to ever enter into a defensive alliance with another nation. Relations with the Amarans are sadly nonexistant. There are various embassies with the other nations across the Sea of Kiriath, and even in Morth, Chan, Shistaron, and the Franars, but prescious little other foreign relations. Most foreigners are regarded with disdain, but treated well in the hopes that they will give up their money.

The capital of the empire is Brevit, located centrally, where the Roger River meets the Tim, before travelling another six-hundred miles to the Gulf of Tompkin. Brevit boasts many of the advantages of a modern city, with a great deal of Mikindim style architecture and engineering, from city sewers to defensive and flood walls. The city also sports a great many fountains, fed by an underground river's force directly beneath the city.

The capital building itself, known as the Red Palace, is a moderately sized building encased in kiln-fired red bricks. The palace is built with one main body, and two wings off to either side; from the air, it would look like a giant red falcon with its wings out-stretched. A red falcon on a white background is the national symbol of Vridara. As such, the grounds around the Red Palace are paved with white-tiled stones, keeping the surrounding grounds rather cool in the summer. Sparkling fountains and large grounds surround the capital building, as well.

Lamental, at the mouth of the Tim River, is the next largest city in the empire. Like Brevit, it is ruled by its own duke, and has extensive wharves and docks. It also has the modern accruments of engineering and architecture, but instead of fountains, the city is renknowned for its small parks with bleeding stones.

Military: The empire's military backbone is the footman. Armed with a large mace and garbed in steel mail, with steel greaves and guards, shields and helms, the footmen represent the strength of steel to be found in the Molten Mountains, the Ovor Hills, and Koobrick Island. Smithies are highly valued in Vridara because of this, and the majority of steel and iron in the empire is reserved for the military's use. The average footman is a 0th-level fighter. Leading the footmen are the knights, mounted on massive chargers and armored in heavy plate mail. The classic knight's weapon in Vridara is the bastard sword, backed by a shield with a spike upon it. Lances are rarely used in the Vridaran Forests because of the heavy brush, and the inability of most chargers to rise to full speed in the close in-fighting that occurs in the forests. Most knight's chargers are armored in plate, as well, reflecting the heavy emphasis Vridara places on steel and power in war. The average knight is a 2nd-level warrior.

Ballistae are the most common seige engine in the empire, as catapults and trebuchets are useless in limited visibilities. Seiges are rare enough occurences, and the high-backed mountains usually sited for castles are virtually impossible to take, save by treachery and trickery. Architecture has been a high point of study in the empire, and its roads, castles, buildings, and fortifications are among the strongest to be found.

Bows are not very popular in Vridara, due to the scarcity of bow-quality woods. Shortbows and reinforced shortbows are usually borrowed from the Toomarans. Longbows and the like are reserved for the nobility, who can afford the rare woods and arrows necessary for such.

Vridara's navy exists primarily to transport troops up and down the Tim and Roger Rivers, and throughout the Gulf of Tompkin. To prevent piracy and other trouble on the high seas, the empire has a small fleet of warships. Heavily armored and slow, the naval forces pack the heavy catapults and trebuchets aboard their large decks. Though the navy rarely can catch pirates on the seas themselves, its smaller sloops act as able spies and saboteurs, and can bring down the full might of the empire's navy to fixed positions and ports. The sailors are typically armed with shortswords, and wear studded leather. The average sailor is a 0th-level fighter.

The military elite of Vridara are the Imperial Royal Guard. They act as both as body guards for the king, and as his personal envoys and heralds. They wear mithrel banded mail, covered in red-dyed leather. All of their leather is the same Imperial Red, and they wear a considerable amount of it. Their chief weapons are the classic bastard swords of the knights (also made of mithrel), backed by iron spears and spiked mithrel shields. They wear red leather capes and hoods, together with their spears and the bastard swords they carry on their hips. The average Royal Guardsman is an 8th-level warrior.

Mercenaries operate within the confines of the empire with considerable freedom. "Post Inns," which serve light drinks and have military-style rooms, serve primarily to post work requests for mercenaries. A full-time scribe can usually be found tending these Post Inns, and he regularly updates the requests for mercenaries, based off of the needs of the merchants (who rarely visit the Post Inns themselves). Nearly all well-to-do merchants are assumed to have body guards which are basically contract mercenaries hired through the Post Inns. There is no official Mercenaries' Guild within Vridara for this reason, though the Merchants' Guilds hold considerable power over the mercenaries.

With a strong military tradition, and a history of crusaders peacefully invading, nearly every peasant and commoner has military blood. At one time, it could be assumed that a worn shortsword or a rusty suit of scale mail was hidden in every peasant or commoner's home. The military's stranglehold on steel has forced many to trade or rework their old arms and armorment, so the peasantry's weapons are usually wooden affairs -- pole arms with splint mail, and the like.

Cultural: The Vridaran culture is dominated by feudalism -- of men owing favors and fealty to other men, up the chain of command to the king. Males are the sole owners of land, and the culture is male-oriented; women cannot give oathes of fealty, by law. Women can serve anywhere but in the military and government, occupying positions from engineers to horse-breeders. Although some minorities exist in Vridara, from Toomarans to Sholin, they are usually short-changed unless they are very shrewd. Their males can still own land and swear to fealty, and so are usually treated fairly well.

Their cuisine is simple and easy to prepare -- heavy in meats with lots of stewed vegetables. Occasionally fish supplements the Vridaran diet, but the majority of the meat is either pork, fowl, or deer. Farming is common only near the castles and on terraces in the mountains; the rest of the land is used for hunting. Farmers and hunters both are respected equally, and each is assumed to be able to prepare the foods he grows or gathers. Cooking is therefore a common thing for men to experiment with, especially in the summer growing season.

Most of the citizens are peasants of no real means or wealth, sworn to fealty to various local land owners. The hierchical system in the empire is directly related to rank and fealty. The only two institutions outside of the feudal system are the churches and the merchants. Church titles have their own hierarchy, independant of the empire's, and imported from outside its borders. The merchants might own land, but only in the cities, where the land can be tied directly to commercial aspects of the Vridaran economy. Mercenaries make up the bulk of the merchants' para-military forces. There are very few beggars, and most are taken in by the priests in their various churches, temples, and monastaries.

The feudal ranks progress as follows: peasant, yeoman, squire, knight, count, baron, earl, and then duke. The various dukes swear fealty to the king, who is the top of the feudal pyramid in Vridara. The dukes, for their part, occasionally go to war with one another, either overtly or covertly. The duchal balance is volatile, and kings have been deposed in the past because of weak duchies or lack of attention. The dukes themselves often hire mercenaries, granting them the title of squire or knight to retain their services indeffinately. A swell in the number of mercenaries found in the cities or at the Post Inns can indicate a coming war between one duchy or another. The king himself rarely intervenes in these wars, unless a large sector of the economy is in danger. Such in-fighting keeps the military strong in Vridara, and also keeps the dukes from growing too powerful. For a duke to be laid low by an earl or even a baron usually indicates that the king has favored the upstart noble with his Royal Guard.

Within the other ranks are various subranks; for instance, there are landed and unlanded peasants, military and civilian yeomen, court and field squires, judiciary and combat knights, and so on and so forth. For the most part, the subranks are titled by the primary rank, and the rank's specific place in a given area. A 'knight errant' for example, is a knight charged with various errands throughout the lands of his lord. Each rank within the feudal system has separate rights under the law, with those rights increasing with each rank up through the feudal ladder.

Ambition is in the blood of most Vridarans. Merchants reserve the right to purchase nobility, in the rank of count or baron. As such, many merchants vie with one another to obtain such purchases from the dukes.

Being mostly slate in origin, outsiders stand out in a crowd. Toomarans are assumed to have equal rights under the laws, and are treated with the minimum of respect they deserve. Amarans are treated with somewhat less respect, and are rarely found inside Vridara. Elves and other demihumans are greeted with outright stares -- and have few rights. However, the demihumans frequently have money, and the locals attempt to extort or steal as much as possible from them.

Geographical: The Vridaran Forest dominates the empire, and has since Vridara was founded -- hence the name. The forest carpets steeply rolling hills and valleys, and primarily consists of softwood trees such as tallows, pine, magnolias, and the like. Ironwood and small red oaks that rarely grow to more than a few feet in diameter make up the rest of the forest's trees. The undergrowth is fairly strong, littered with bushes and thorny vines, which makes the forests ideal for boar, rabbit, squirrel, and deer. The occasional herd of auroch can still be found in the forests, as can small hidden tribes of Sylvan elves.

The rainy season is early spring and late fall, just after and just before the winter snows. The summers are rather humid, dry, and hot, all at once. Thunderstorms do roll in on occasion during the summer months, giving rise to flash floods, tornadoes, and lightning storms. The winter storms bring several feet of snow and moderately cold temperatures. Rarely do the rivers ice over, but it happens every generation or so.

The farming soil is a rocky, sandy, clayish mix that is difficult to work with, save near the rivers. There, the high silt content means just sandy and clayish. Traditional crops just meet the demands of Vridara itself, with little left over for export. The majority of the farming surfaces in Vridara are terraced up the sides of valleys, using cleverly constructed irrigation and drainage systems. This protects the crops from flooding in the spring thaws and summer storms, and makes them more difficult to conquer by neighboring lords.

The animal life in Vridara is fairly dangerous, ranging from wolves to boar. The occasional large ankheg or stag beetle can still be found in the wilder portions of Vridara, especially close to the Molten Mountains the Ovor Hills. More rarely, deinychus will surge up out of the many caves, or a snapper-saw tree will be found.

Because of the many hills and small mountains in Vridara, there are a myriad of softer, limestone caves and underground rivers. Most of these underground rivers run from east to west, unlike the above-ground rivers, which run from south to north. Where they cross, surface eddies might be the only indication that just beneath the surface of the water, a powerful whirlpool current exists.

The higher hills and mountains to the east of the forests contain megalocentipeds and whip scorpions in abundance, and have never been tamed despite the empire's best efforts. What mining towns exist there, are constantly under guard and protection, making for nerve-wracking stays. Ancient dwarven legends of retribution for violating the once-dwarven mines also contribute to the scarcity of men in the Molten Mountains and the Ovor Hills.

Koobrick Island, a stony and mountainous land with steep sides, is mined for iron as well. The dangerous approaches to the island, as well as the harsh conditions there, have made it a prison, where the worst criminals are sent from the empire.

Economics: The coin of the empire is the Vridaran 'chit'. The same red-ochre dye used in the royal colors also colors the royal coins, giving gold and silver a very slight red tint, seen best in direct sunlight. The coins are three-sided, and made from a unique stamping process that is a closely guarded state secret. The 'golden chits' are worth roughly one gold piece, and made of red-ochre tinted gold. The same holds true for the 'silver chits'. The 'copper chits' have no red-ochre added to them, but are valued for their copper weight. Coins from outside the empire have to be exchanged for their chit equivalent.

For truly large transactions of money, the international standard of bullion is accepted in Vridara. Vridaran bullion is untinted, but bears the royal crest of certified purity -- a falcon with balancing scales held in its claws.

The merchants' guilds are the heart and soul of the Vridaran economy, answerable directly only to a few select dukes, and the king himself. Although subject to local laws, the merchants can sometimes skirt them with well-placed 'legal' bribes, depending on the nation of the infraction. The guilds maintain a close watch over the economy, determining the interest and exchange rates charged by money-lenders.

The empire exports a fair number of furs, as well as lumber, silk, grapes, and mead. Mead is the most common drink in Vridara, with wine following at a close second. In the Gulf of Tompkin, rare mussels and snails yield up a fine purple dye for export. Several special hills yield up ochres that, when treated, give a blood-red dye that is the color of the royal court and guard. The Molten Mountains and the Ovor Hills, once a part of the Granite Mountains, give up raw iron and occasionally mithrel.

The military owns first rights to all iron and mithrel, and the secret to manufacturing mithrel is a closely guarded state secret. Because of this, smiths are held in high regard, and may never leave the country. Stonemasons and carpenters have made up for the lack of steel and iron pinnings, cleverly bypassing the need for large amounts of iron. Iron and mithrel rarely leave the empire, save on diplomatic or military excursions.

Vridara imports a fair amount of grain to supplment what it grows on its terraces. In addition to grain, it imports quick-silver for tanning purposes, lead, and silver. Its net trade balance each year hovers close to zero, and so it imports a fair amount of gold from its neighbors, as well, in the form of luxury items. The empire's tariff's are rather stiff, and most foreign sellers must pay a high price to do business in Vridara. The internal commercial systems are thus over-protected, and able to import what they choose without fear of foreign competition.

The customs agents are rather fair, and some one in three are open to bribery to allow items or equipment in without paying the stiff tariffs. Those same agents are fiercely defensive of Vridara, however, and cannot be bought off to endanger the empire for any reason.

Languages: The Vridaran tongue is a derivative of ancient Karatikan, mixed liberally with the native tongue that existed before the crusades. Several other influences from both the barbarians of the Tarsis Forest, the Amaran Tribes, and the Toomaran Tribes, have found their way into the language. Flat and monotone, the language is not very flavorful, using the tongue extensively, and keeping all sounds based around the hard palate and tongue.

The written version of the Vridaran script is considered unparalled, with one character per possible syllable of the language. All three hundred characters are fairly easy to learn, though particularly messy Vridaran is difficult to decipher.

The Common trading tongue is also both spoken and written inside Vridara's borders, and most citizens know at least a smattering. The Toomaran tongue is found to some extent, particularly among the merchants that deal with their merchandise. Much less often, the Amaran tongue can be found spoken.

Religeon: Temples to Lul, Rahne, and Elinthar dominate Vridara's cities. Most of its citizens worship Lul to some extent, and every king in Vridara's history has claimed to follow the Merchant God. Smaller circles profess to worship Mikindim and Barith, who are seen more in the outlying districts away from the cities. Because of its origins in the crusades, nominal worship is given to Yatindar and Whalin, and one temple to each can be found in Brevit, Lamental, and Sorel.

Altars to other gods are found now and again throughout the cities, but rarely in the countryside. Lost temples in the dense forests do exist, predating the Storm Wars, but are rare and usually destroyed when found by the local duchal forces.

There are several temples of note. The Tome of Knowledge is the largest temple to Lul in Vridara, found directly across from the palace grounds in Trevit. A monastary to Mikindim exists in the Molten Mountains, known as the Kiminaran. The ten churches to Rahne found in Trevit are actually arranged in a strategic grid formation, and the collapse of certain alleyways and buildings links the churchs together into a walled fortification with church-towers around the heart of the city; this arrangement is known as the Ten Churches. The main temple to Rahne in Trevit is known as the "Kurangier", which in Common translates to "The Fist of War".

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