The City of Darby was founded in the year 387 and over the past several centuries has grown into one of the largest cities on the continent of Krat, which is itself the largest continent in all of Hethren. Now, in the year 742, Darby is wealthy and powerful, and rules itself as an independent city state. There are over a hundred thousand people in the city. The city is enormous, by far the largest city in the region. Of all the cities in the Empire of Ralo, Monarchy of Kune, and Republic of Dwarn, only the Imperial City of the Empire of Ralo is even marginally larger. It has made a massive fortune by being the only place in the entire region where Imperial, Royal, and Republican traders and diplomats can gather and exchange goods and information. Additionally, the many rebel groups that live in the Barrows also maintain embassies in Darby.
The City of Darby keeps a large and well equipped land army that mans the city's walls. There are three thousand professional soldiers inside the city walls, though nearly every adult is armed in some way. The city's merchants employ few guards, as the city guard is well aware that Darby's existence depends on the safety and prosperity of the merchants. Magic users of every stripe are represented within the city's walls. Even the druids maintain a presence within Darby's network of public parks.
Nearly every race is represented within Darby. While no race has a majority or even a plurality within the city, Darby was founded by humans. This means that the Empire of Ralo considers the City of Darby part of their rightful domain. Were it not for the incredible wealth generated for their traders and the incredible opportunities generated for their spies and diplomats by the city's connections, they would have already attempted to directly conquer it. In reality, humans account for only twenty percent of the city's population, while elves account for an equal percentage and halflings account for roughly fifteen percent. All races are welcomes in the city, including the savage races from beyond the borders of the great nations and supposed civilization.
Darby is ruled by a council of nobles. The first three noble families were created when the city was founded, and are thus human. But there are now nine noble families on the council. Four are human, three are elves, one is halfling, and one is gnomish. The council makes all decisions that concern the city. There is no executive or lower level of government.
The magic users of the city are mostly organized into different universities and temples, with several powerful magic users enlisted in the military as well. Arcane magic use is not as developed or as common as in the Monarchy of Kune or the Empire of Ralo. Darby's true strength is economic, not magical.
Showing posts with label Krat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Krat. Show all posts
Sunday, February 24, 2013
The Barrows
The Barrows are a relatively small, extremely fertile territory that encircles the City of Darby and lies between the Empire of Ralo, the Monarchy of Kune, and the Dwarn Republic. For over two thousand years the Barrows had held itself apart from the rest of the world, remaining undeveloped. It was largely just full of druids and elf villages. But with the rise of the great nations, the Barrows became the refuge of many different bands of outlaws and rebels. Over a hundred small groups make their home in the Barrows, hiding out not only from the different nations but from the few druids who survive. The elves have long since been driven away, unable to protect their villages from the thugs that have claimed the Barrows.
The fertile, lightly forested territories of the Barrows are interrupted by light, rolling hills and deep, fast-flowing rivers. Very few bridges have been built in the region, and even fewer are controlled by a faction with the will and the ability to repair those bridges. While Kune, Ralo, and Dwarn each maintain a single highway from their own empire to the City of Darby, these bridges are heavily taxes and watched constantly. Many merchants attempt to find other ways to pass through the Barrows, using bridges controlled by a variety of other factions that are less safe and careful to keep their own levies less expensive than those of the great powers.
The fertile, lightly forested territories of the Barrows are interrupted by light, rolling hills and deep, fast-flowing rivers. Very few bridges have been built in the region, and even fewer are controlled by a faction with the will and the ability to repair those bridges. While Kune, Ralo, and Dwarn each maintain a single highway from their own empire to the City of Darby, these bridges are heavily taxes and watched constantly. Many merchants attempt to find other ways to pass through the Barrows, using bridges controlled by a variety of other factions that are less safe and careful to keep their own levies less expensive than those of the great powers.
The Monarchy of Kune
The Monarchy of Kune is a large nation that is mostly made up of elves that is very close to the Empire of Ralo, located on the continent of Krat. Kune controls extremely large forested areas and two large inland seas. Kune is an ancient nation, nearly two thousand years old. They have only had four previous monarchs though, each having ruled for an extremely long time.
Within Kune, magic is common and practiced by a great many people. All forms may be practiced without restriction, and the druids remain prevalent and extremely powerful within Kune, as do bards and clerics. However, Kune's wizards and sorcerers are not as powerful as those of the Empire of Ralo. Magic is used in the lives of many more of the common people than in the Empire of Ralo, and it is often speculated that the elves have secrets that the humans and gnomes of Ralo cannot fathom locked away in their many academies and competitive guild organizations, though there has never been any proof of this.
The current monarch, Queen Mirabella the Second, is a frail, ancient woman of six hundred and forty years, who has been on the throne since her father was murdered more than six centuries ago. She is an awesomely powerful wizard, but her rule is failing as her people lose faith in the government. Her heir-apparent, Prince Tirralon, is a pompous and gullible young man who has just been thrust into the spotlight after the death of his two older sisters and elder brother in a terrible assassination plot. He was also almost killed, and bears terrible scars on his neck and shoulders where the assassin's arrows pierced him.
The Monarchy of Kune has a small, volunteer military supplemented by tiny town and village militias and slightly larger city guards. Only Kune's long-standing alliance with the autonomous orders of druids and their powerful animal companions allow them to protect their border from incursions from the Empire of Ralo.
While the Empire of Ralo does not want any of Kune's territory, they would like to push right up to their borders, which includes chopping down long protected forests worshiped by many druids and clerics within Kune. Kune also maintains a wary relationship with their powerful southern neighbor, the Dwarn Republic.
Kune is populated mostly by elves, with small pockets of fey and the occassional gnomish and halfling village along the frontier with the Empire of Ralo. The elves have not built great cities, preferring to build a multitude of small and medium sized towns. A city of ten thousand is a regional metropolis in Kune, and the capital is less than twice that size. This unwillingness to build large cities has also contributed to a lack of expertise at building defensive fortifications. The Monarchy of Kune has few castles, mostly located in traditional rather than pragmatic locations.
Within Kune, magic is common and practiced by a great many people. All forms may be practiced without restriction, and the druids remain prevalent and extremely powerful within Kune, as do bards and clerics. However, Kune's wizards and sorcerers are not as powerful as those of the Empire of Ralo. Magic is used in the lives of many more of the common people than in the Empire of Ralo, and it is often speculated that the elves have secrets that the humans and gnomes of Ralo cannot fathom locked away in their many academies and competitive guild organizations, though there has never been any proof of this.
The current monarch, Queen Mirabella the Second, is a frail, ancient woman of six hundred and forty years, who has been on the throne since her father was murdered more than six centuries ago. She is an awesomely powerful wizard, but her rule is failing as her people lose faith in the government. Her heir-apparent, Prince Tirralon, is a pompous and gullible young man who has just been thrust into the spotlight after the death of his two older sisters and elder brother in a terrible assassination plot. He was also almost killed, and bears terrible scars on his neck and shoulders where the assassin's arrows pierced him.
The Monarchy of Kune has a small, volunteer military supplemented by tiny town and village militias and slightly larger city guards. Only Kune's long-standing alliance with the autonomous orders of druids and their powerful animal companions allow them to protect their border from incursions from the Empire of Ralo.
While the Empire of Ralo does not want any of Kune's territory, they would like to push right up to their borders, which includes chopping down long protected forests worshiped by many druids and clerics within Kune. Kune also maintains a wary relationship with their powerful southern neighbor, the Dwarn Republic.
Kune is populated mostly by elves, with small pockets of fey and the occassional gnomish and halfling village along the frontier with the Empire of Ralo. The elves have not built great cities, preferring to build a multitude of small and medium sized towns. A city of ten thousand is a regional metropolis in Kune, and the capital is less than twice that size. This unwillingness to build large cities has also contributed to a lack of expertise at building defensive fortifications. The Monarchy of Kune has few castles, mostly located in traditional rather than pragmatic locations.
The Dwarn Republic
The Dwarn Republic is a large nation that formed only a century ago. It is by far the youngest of the great nations. The Republic is a semi-democratic place ruled by a combination of old, wealthy families and the will of the people. Roughly eighty percent of the Dwarn Republic's population are halflings. The Republic is the first large primarily halfling nation ever to exist on the continent of Krat. It is located to the south of the Empire of Ralo and the Monarchy of Kune. The Republic is the freest of all the nations, absent an explicit class separation or government religion.
The Dwarn Republic formed from over a hundred small halfing confederacies combining over a period of twenty years, when the halflings became increasingly nationalistic and assertive of their culture and borders. After these nations decided to combine and eventually hashed out a long and moderately centralized constitution, the Dwarn Republic was officially begun. But it lacked an army. While the halflings were willing to fight and provided legions of rogues supplemented by rangers and spellcasters of all stripes for these armies, they found themselves lacking direct combat soldiers. So they looked inwards, to the enemies they had originally unified to protect themselves against: orcs.
Roughly twenty percent of the Dwarn Republic's population are orcs. This is because the halflings struck a deal with the orcs. If they were willing to live in peace and contribute large numbers of melee soldiers to the army, orc communities would be exempt from all federal and provincial taxes (local taxes and tariffs would still apply). Thus orcs and halflings live together in peace within the Republic's borders, providing security for one another.
The Dwarn Republic's army suffers badly from a lack of fortifications along the borders. They do not have any special magical or engineering abilities to create these forts, despite how badly they are needed along a border so easy to cross. Instead, the halflings provide for their defense with mobile patrol units, where as many as ten halflings wander the woods and dispatch minor threats, reporting major threats. Major threats are then dealt with by the main armies, which are roughly two-thirds orcish. The Dwarn Republic has faced threats by many outside groups seeking to test the strength of the newborn nation. These threats include orcish and goblinoid tribes, ogres and trolls, giant kingdoms, gnoll clans, even raids by the dwarves.
The Dwarn Republic formed from over a hundred small halfing confederacies combining over a period of twenty years, when the halflings became increasingly nationalistic and assertive of their culture and borders. After these nations decided to combine and eventually hashed out a long and moderately centralized constitution, the Dwarn Republic was officially begun. But it lacked an army. While the halflings were willing to fight and provided legions of rogues supplemented by rangers and spellcasters of all stripes for these armies, they found themselves lacking direct combat soldiers. So they looked inwards, to the enemies they had originally unified to protect themselves against: orcs.
Roughly twenty percent of the Dwarn Republic's population are orcs. This is because the halflings struck a deal with the orcs. If they were willing to live in peace and contribute large numbers of melee soldiers to the army, orc communities would be exempt from all federal and provincial taxes (local taxes and tariffs would still apply). Thus orcs and halflings live together in peace within the Republic's borders, providing security for one another.
The Dwarn Republic's army suffers badly from a lack of fortifications along the borders. They do not have any special magical or engineering abilities to create these forts, despite how badly they are needed along a border so easy to cross. Instead, the halflings provide for their defense with mobile patrol units, where as many as ten halflings wander the woods and dispatch minor threats, reporting major threats. Major threats are then dealt with by the main armies, which are roughly two-thirds orcish. The Dwarn Republic has faced threats by many outside groups seeking to test the strength of the newborn nation. These threats include orcish and goblinoid tribes, ogres and trolls, giant kingdoms, gnoll clans, even raids by the dwarves.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
The Empire of Ralo
One of the largest nations on the continent of Krat, the Empire of Ralo is a landlocked nation of humans and gnomes. Magic is scarce and the Empire of Ralo strictly controls its use. Only the Imperial Wizards Guild is allowed to practice arcane magic of any kind, and druids are banned across the Empire and clerics are all officially in the government's service. Rogue magicians are imprisoned or executed.
The Empire of Ralo has a massive military that consists mostly of conscripts and an elite officer corps. All men are required to serve in the military from the ages of 16 to 19. The Imperial Wizards Guild is also required to provide the military with whatever magical support they require. In addition to mass conscription from age 16 to 19, the Empire considers all men from the age of 19 to 25 active reserves and has them report in for a full month of training every year.
The Empire of Ralo is ruled and mostly populated by humans. Only about ten percent of the population is made up of gnomes, and they live in separate communities and are exempted from military conscription. Roughly a quarter of the wizards in the Imperial Wizards Guild are gnomes. Some humans disrespect gnomes within the Empire, but humans and gnomes live together peacefully and with mutual respect most of the time. Volunteer gnomish soldiers serve in separate military units, though there has never been a gnomish High General or Imperial Minister.
The Empire of Ralo is heavily militarized and often aggressive towards other nations. The Emperor of Ralo considers himself to be the rightful ruler of all of humanity, and is determined to achieve domination over the other human nations of the continent of Krat. They have no allies amongst the other nations of the continent. Because of their enormous size, most nation's cannot avoid trading with them.
The Empire was founded roughly six hundred years ago as a small kingdom of humans and has grown into a massive empire over centuries of war and conquest with smaller, weaker neighbors. However, they have little interest in aquiring the territories of non-human peoples, only keeping gnomes as citizens because the gnomes asked to be peacefully absorbed in exchange for protection. Technology is relatively advanced in the Empire of Ralo. Massive defensive fortifications and advanced plate armor are produced widely for the military class. The Empire has produced a massive, well-organized pre-industrial society that holds the divine in disdain. Many of the temples are empty and druids, who oppose the ruthless exploitation of nature, are executed on site.
The Empire of Ralo has a massive military that consists mostly of conscripts and an elite officer corps. All men are required to serve in the military from the ages of 16 to 19. The Imperial Wizards Guild is also required to provide the military with whatever magical support they require. In addition to mass conscription from age 16 to 19, the Empire considers all men from the age of 19 to 25 active reserves and has them report in for a full month of training every year.
The Empire of Ralo is ruled and mostly populated by humans. Only about ten percent of the population is made up of gnomes, and they live in separate communities and are exempted from military conscription. Roughly a quarter of the wizards in the Imperial Wizards Guild are gnomes. Some humans disrespect gnomes within the Empire, but humans and gnomes live together peacefully and with mutual respect most of the time. Volunteer gnomish soldiers serve in separate military units, though there has never been a gnomish High General or Imperial Minister.
The Empire of Ralo is heavily militarized and often aggressive towards other nations. The Emperor of Ralo considers himself to be the rightful ruler of all of humanity, and is determined to achieve domination over the other human nations of the continent of Krat. They have no allies amongst the other nations of the continent. Because of their enormous size, most nation's cannot avoid trading with them.
The Empire was founded roughly six hundred years ago as a small kingdom of humans and has grown into a massive empire over centuries of war and conquest with smaller, weaker neighbors. However, they have little interest in aquiring the territories of non-human peoples, only keeping gnomes as citizens because the gnomes asked to be peacefully absorbed in exchange for protection. Technology is relatively advanced in the Empire of Ralo. Massive defensive fortifications and advanced plate armor are produced widely for the military class. The Empire has produced a massive, well-organized pre-industrial society that holds the divine in disdain. Many of the temples are empty and druids, who oppose the ruthless exploitation of nature, are executed on site.
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