Lady Sabine
Member
When the Elven Empire of Silthador collapsed some 1126 years ago, the continent of Damre was plunged into chaos. Coming out of almost fifteen hundred years of subjugation, the humans of the region found themselves woefully unprepared for the job of rebuilding and establishing new systems of government.
Rising from the ashes, the House of Castalon seized power. They were firm but fair, fiercely protective of the people under their protection and unwaveringly loyal to their allies. For the next 1107 years, the Castalon Kings would lead the country of Synaria through the good times and the bad ones, through famine and war and disease, but also through bounty and wealth and prosperity.
Until now. After eleven centuries of rule, the Castalon Dynasty has finally been extinguished. The current king, Julianos the Third, was poisoned three days ago and died yesterday afternoon along with his pregnant wife and two toddling daughters. He was the only child of his father Julianos the Second, who passed away from the Red Cough some four years past. With no male cousins and no living children, for the first time in the history of Synaria there are no more Castalons to take the throne.
Numerous claims are making themselves heard. From right of blood to right of might to right of experience, everybody has a say in who ought to next ascend the throne. In the end, the throne has room enough for only one person.
But everybody wants to rule the world.
A map of Synaria will be drawn up at a later date.
For now, here's some information about the kingdom:
The kingdom of Synaria is home to the Synarian people, who speak the Common language. The inhabitants are Synarian, but their art, culture, and items are Synari. The Synarian boy likes to play with his Synari toy sword. The little Synarian girl enjoys singing old Synari songs. The Synari horses are ridden by Synarian knights.
-At A Glance-
The kingdom of Synaria is comparable in size to the isle of Britain. Currently it has a population of about 750 million with only 18% urbanized.
About 70% (525k) of the population lives an agricultural lifestyle with about 25k of those living as nomadic animal herders- primarily horses and cattle on the northern steppes.
The urbanized 18% (135k) are split between 50k employed in the iron industry in the western hills and and 85k split between the the larger cities of the East.
The remaining 12% encompass the small village occupations (blacksmith, priest, etc.), the wandering traders, the hedge knights and mercenaries, woodsmen, and others.
-Who's in Charge of Who-
- The King is the ruler of the land. He is the sovereign, the monarch. Everyone in the kingdom answers to him, though he keeps only a small personal retainer and relies on his court to provide most of the military might. He is referred to as your majesty, your highness, and your grace.
- The Queen his his consort. She can make some laws and take charge in certain situations, as long as her husband gives her permission. She is referred to as your highness or your grace.
- The children of the King and Queen are Princes and Princesses. Everyone except their parents owe them respect and deference, but they do not create law or policy. They are styled as your grace or your highness as well.
- The Great Lords and Ladies rule subsections of the kingdom known as Provinces, of which there are eleven. A Lady may rule if she has no brothers and her father has named her the Lord of the Land. Only the heir of the Lord or Lady inherits the title. Dukes, Duchesses, Barons, and Baronesses owe allegiance to a Lord or Lady. They are styled as your excellency.
- The Dukes and Duchesses follow the same rules as the Lords and Ladies, but are below them in rank. They rule small regions within Provinces known as Duchies. They receive no special styles.
- Barons and Baronesses are a step below Dukes and Duchesses. Their authority is usually over a very small area, such as a city or a castle and surrounding grounds. They also receive no special styles.
- The children of the above will not inherit the title unless they are the heir, but instead will be lords or ladies (not capitalized). They may own land but may not conscript Men-at-Arms. The title is not passed on to their children unless both parents are lords/ladies.
- All of the above may be referred to as my lord/m'lord or my lady/m'lady or by their title. If a person owes allegiance to another, they can be referred to as "my liege".
- Knights are the warriors of the kingdom. They do not have to own land but they may, usually a farm or townhome, or even a small castle. Knights may or may not owe allegiance to a Lord, Duke, or Baron, but always owe allegiance to the King (at least on paper). Knights do not have the power to conscript Men-at-Arms. Knights are usually called Ser, as in Ser Gallahad.
- Venators do not have a place in the feudal system, but are often afforded as much respect as less experienced knights. Some Venators own property. They cannot conscript Men-at-Arms.
- Hired Hands/Guards are professional warriors, usually commoners but sometimes young nobles who haven't been knighted yet. They provide their own weapons and armor and are usually paid by the year. Anyone with money can hire a Guard.
- Men-at-Arms are nonprofessionals, usually farmers. The King, Lords, Dukes, and Barons can conscript Men-at-Arms from property they own. They are provided with arms and armor but are typically unpaid. It is considered the feudal duty of peasants to act as Men-at-Arms when their lord goes to war.
-Geography-
The Western part of Synaria is hilly and arid, with little agriculture. However, the hills are rich in iron and the mining industry there is very strong.
The Northern part is steppes and grassland, home primarily to nomadic cattle herders and horse breeders.
The central and Eastern portions are more agricultural, with two rivers providing plenty of water for irrigation as well as good trade routes into Voletta.
The South is forested and less developed, but home to subsistence farmers and a healthy logging industry.
-Religion-
The dominant religion in Synaria is a ditheistic system known simply as The Faith. Followers of the Faith are divided into Sons of the Father and Daughters of the Mother. Though both followers recognize the existence of the other deity, only one is worshipped.
Sons (a gender-neutral term) are organized similar to Roman Catholicism, with the Patron being the head of the church. The Father is seen as the god of civilization, who brings with him math, language, art, and construction. His believers say that he judges every soul upon their death and sends them either to Heaven, a land of eternal bliss, or Hell, a land of eternal torment, depending on how well they followed his principles. Knights are the holy warriors of the Father, who have vowed to bring law, faith, and civilization to all the people of the world.
Daughters (also gender-neutral) are unstructured. Means of worship vary widely from place to place, and very few actual churches or cults or systems exist within her worship. The Mother is seen as the goddess of the natural world, the mother of the planet and all things on it. Her followers promote nonviolence, except in defense, vegetarianism, and fair treatment of both the world and all animals. Their belief system includes reincarnation, where a soul will be born again into new bodies until it has gained the wisdom to join again with the Mother herself and become part of the goddess. Sometimes warriors will pledge themselves to the Mother instead of the Father. They are known as Venators, and they each take on a patron animal to represent their fighting spirit. Venators are not allowed to draw blood unless it is necessary to protect themselves or defenseless people and creatures.
-Geographic Context-
To the West of Synaria is a mountain range known as the Spine of the World. They are extremely high and there are no natural passes through the mountains within two hundred leagues of Synaria, so travelling over or under is very rare. Across the mountains, some thirty leagues of a journey, lies the Elven land of Silthador, thought now to be a plagueland and avoided out of superstition.
To the North, across the Arakesh river, are the Steppes of Arakesh, home to the Arakeshi horselords. A nomadic and barbaric people, they herd horses and hunt the wild cows, sometimes engaging in practices like cannibalism and blood sacrifice that ensure there is only one bridge built over the Arakesh river, and it is closely guarded. While Arakesh war parties do sometimes swim across, attacks are fairly rare. About 3% of the population of Synaria speaks the Arakeshi tongue, mostly those who live near the steppes or trade for meat and hides.
To the East are two countries. Tiridia is the northern one, a Common-speaking land. An arid, rocky clime means that in spite of it being a third larger than Synaria, it has only 20% of the population and does not engage in much trade or politics. Below it, however, is Voletta. A more hospitable climate, Volettans are considered very cultured and classy. Their main trade goods are wine, cheese, and fine fabrics. About 1/3 of Synaria speaks Volletan and diplomatic ties are strong.
To the South are four smaller nations. All are Common-speaking and none are more than 1/5 Synaria's size. They engage in regular trade and diplomacy, but none have a large influence culturally or require notable border security.
- I don't like the term "literate". I think "moderately skilled" more accurately describes what I'm looking for. ^^ Length isn't as important to me, though I do expect a good paragraph per character, but I do expect good spelling and understandable grammar. The most important thing, however, is keeping the plot going. Your characters should be active and engaged, doing things and saying things instead of standing around and waiting for something to happen.
- As the latter part of no. 1 probably suggested, the second rule is about characters. You must have at least a 1:1 ratio of characters actively engaged in court politics to characters in supporting roles (for example, if you have a servant girl you must also have a noblewoman), otherwise meaningful interaction is just too difficult.
- You should be polite to your fellow RPers. Discuss everything big in OOC before throwing it out there. Don't hog the spotlight (but don't be afraid to take a turn in it!) and make sure to interact.
- Related to no. 3 is activity. I'm going to suggest you go no more than 48 hours between posts, otherwise it might be difficult for you to keep up with the action.
- Follow all the site rules. This is a 17+ RP not so much because of sex, drugs, & rock'n'roll as it is because I want this to deal with adult themes like responsibility, religious conflict, illegitimate children, the right of governance, etc. I'm going to say that sex, possibly even rape, might be plot points or important parts of a character's past and/or motivation, but they will be IMPLIED and will NOT be actively played out. I would also prefer that injuries sustained during the course of the RP NOT be described in gory detail. Along with site rules, don't break any of those common RP rules concerning overpowered characters or controlling somebody else's character.
- I'm not going to call this medieval fantasy since it won't include many fantasy elements, but it isn't realistic either. All characters must be 100% human. No magic-users, except maybe priests with a few blessings. Elves are extinct and dragons are extinct, but a few relics/bones may remain. A character may possess ONE enchanted/magical item, but you'll have to PM me your idea and get permission first.
And this isn't a rule persay, but if we can all try to have fun and keep the atmosphere friendly and nice, that would be GREAT.
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