Writing up the rough for my campaign coming up this spring. I'm leaning a bit more back towards the niche of the traditional fantasy, with a Europe-like environment, instead of trying to totally recreate one like I did for my last campaign. Posted this over at the Gleemax forums, but got limited responses so I thought I'd try a bit more niche forum for inspiration.
Noræn is roughly the upper left 1/4 of a continent I've yet to name. It has a few major population points, having been settled all over since neolithic times. Its name is Old English for North West. Sometime during the history (not fixing history and dates etc yet), one of the cities decided to try and unite everyone under a centralized rule. They called this the Republic, and was a bit like the Rasenna in that they offered you to join peacefully or be subjugated. It was a fairly well off Republic, and they eventually moved their capital away from the western coast of Noræn.
One of the Héafod's (Old English for "leader") decided the concept of the Republic was a bit pointless if you don't have optional membership. He then offered all the provinces to pay a value in money or goods to "leave" the Republic. A few paid them, and a place called Væl was one of them.
Væl is the most North West provence of Noræn, and exported a lot of salt from the sea and fish, along with various other goods. It was fairly wealthy though not rolling in gold. It has strong borders formed by glacial mountains to the south and east, with a few passes through them. To the south is a river valley called Plóg (Old English for plough) which exports a lot of food and other mountain goods like ore and stone.
After the Republic's counsel gave way to a new one, a more hard-line approach was taken to the Republic. Appalled at having LOST territory, they launched a campaign to retake the provinces that bought themseves out of the Republics flock (Obviously, he's not a very shrewed businessman). They managed to retake most of them, but the mountains and Væl's well trained and equipped militias formed an army capable of opposing the best the Republic had. A treaty was signed allowing them to keep the land to themselves as long as they did not provoke the Republic (which at this point is suffering from some Byzantine style politics if you follow).
The countryside is dotted with hamlets and villages where people have settled along the roads towards town. Bountiful forests and good rains allow great agricultural output. Quarries bring stone to the people, and iron tools are cheap enough for people to afford. Recent population growth has shunted a few un-settled individuals to the city of Norceaster, where they seek adventure and learning. A few of these individuals offer services to the city for substantial rewards.
Væl has a healthy martial culture, and all forms of weapons are taught, from the humble quarterstaff and the rigid spear in the village square, to the arming sword and buckler in the fighting schools in Norceaster, even through the ritualesque gauntlet swords.
Væl's seat of power is Norceaster (North City in Old English, or North Village, however you wish to translate it). This was the original seat of power in the area before the Republic, and is the main point of commerce. It is the city that refines the sea into salt, it is the city that houses the finer weapon and armor smiths, and it is the city that houses the schools and pays for maintaining itself. At the head of the city is the Cyning, a man who rules over all of Væl, and to whom all free men owe military service.
The Cyning has no name. Unlike lands far away where kings glorify their name or take the name of former kings, the Cyning forgoes his identity when he assumes the position as ruler. Upon the death of the old Cyning, the new Cyning enters a ritual where he consumes the heart of the old, taking on his wisdom and right to rule. He then enters a vigil to seat himself proper with the gods, and is then flogged three times: Once to wake him to the pain of war, once to wake him to the pain of hunger, and the last to wake him to the pain of servitude. His crown of iron is them forged, and he is crowned Cynning publicly the day it is finished. He now has the right to set taxes, revoke and invoke law, settle grand disputes, and call for war. Upon his death, his heart is eaten to pass his wisdom on to the next Cynning, and his body is burned. The festival of passing is held to celebrate the passing of the Cynning, and the cycle continues.
<religion and the like to be fleshed out>
Væl society is not quite the feudal form that took hold of Europe in the period following Charlemagne's death and the Carolingian Renaissance. At the top is the Cynning, who has bonded with the Cynnings of old. Below him are freemen, who are subject to the protection and obligations of the law. They own property, own businesses, buy and sell things. They are required to arm and equip themselves based on their wealth, and if really wealthy, equip a number of others. Below the landed freemen are the unlanded freemen. Technically they're the same rank, but don't get the obligations, the "status", nor can they hold a public office. These people normally work for others, staff shops, tend flocks and fields, or work a traveling trade. Below these are the Þræl, slaves taken in battle from those who chose to not stand and fight, or those who surrendered themselves. It is the right of landed freemen to own slaves, but they may not hunt for them. Laws regarding who is born into slavery are strict, in an attempt to require society to rely on freeman laborers and not on slaves.
If you've made it this far, congrats! This is the rough for my setting, so if you have any comments, questions, etc please post.
M.
A good start. Some questions:
How large are the estates owned by landed freemen? Is there a legal limit to their size? Can they expand their holdings by sales? By force? Do they live on their estates or in towns? Can an unlanded freeman become landed, and if so how?
Is the title of Cynning hereditary or is it more like an elected monarch? If the latter, who are the electors? Is there some law or tradition to provide means for getting rid of the Cynning if he proves to be incompetent or tyrannical, or are the people stuck with him?
I like saome of the feel I am getting, but there are a few questions i need answered to help us both along.
The poplulations VAel and Norceaster seem both small and large. the governmental style speaks of a small population, yet it sounds very spacious.
This sounds like a human only setting, but that is not specified. Am I correct?
the Republic is ill-defined, in terms of how it relates to Vael.
I like the way the Cynning 'becomes' the position, BTW.
More review later.
Estates owned by freemen can be of any real size. You can always buy land, or be awarded it from another owner. Any land not owned by a person is owned by the Cynning. You can live on the estate proper, or operate it remotely from another location (The city of Norceaster or the like). Unlanded freemen normally either work in the city as laborers or help operate an estate under a freeman. For example, say my estate consists mostly of woodland and small clearings. You, an unlanded freeman, can work for me. You cut down logs, which are mine, in exchange for a house and some share in the sales of the lumber. Years later, you've done so well at it that I grant you the house and the area around it as your own. Now, you still need money, so you still work for me, but you do have your own land to work with on your own.
The Cynning is hereditary, of the traditional "first son" stock. Sallic law doesn't apply, though, and the position can be inherited through a woman. Tyranical Cynnings are normally murdered by the freemen, under sacred law.
Population wise, Norceaster would be the largest population center. It is likely a city of a few thousand people, and it is a port, so there would be a mix of peoples (Cultures are hard to represent, so we use races instead). The countryside is not very densely populated, with (towns and?) villages forming the major population clusters. These would of course be surrounded by food production (fields, pastures) and processing (mills, butteries). Outside of that is probably a very lonely / dangerous place to be.
As for the Republic, think of it as something similar to the EU. The EU was formed and effectively subjugates the individual nations of Europe, but allows the individual nations to govern themselves. The Republic would take a cut of taxes, and has the right to impose/enforce certain laws. In exchange, trade routes are well protected, people can freely move between provinces, etc.
Now, imagine if the EU allowed nations to buy their way out of EU jurisdiction. They would no longer have to obey EU regulations, could govern themselves further, etc. Let's say France, Germany, and Italy does this for example. Then, some time later, a new head of the EU comes into place that finds that idea offensive. So they launch an attempt to get them back into the fold. Say Italy agrees to re-join, France and Germany fight the EU. Germany is conquered but France stave's them off and the EU quits. This is essentially what happened with the Republic: they couldn't reconquer the area so they ended up ending their campaign. They now exist as two separate entities. They are aware of each other, but generally don't interact.
M.
By the way, is there a set format for submitting stuff? I'll be doing the flavor work over the holidays, and it might end up being quite long.
M.
Here is an EXTREMELY crude map. I will publish a better one when I get an opportunity to make it. The pink dots are some kind of population center (various sizes, etc), the blue one is the biggest city, the greyish green ones are towers (of which there are two). The dark green blot is a sacred grove.
Dunno how far across it is from end to end...100 miles? 60?
M.
EDIT: Didn't have the image for some reason. (http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/comnder09/?action=view¤t=untitled-7.jpg)
http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/comnder09/?action=view¤t=untitled-7.jpg
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/comnder09/untitled-7.jpg?t=1230347598)
There you go.
Hm, it refused to work for me :/
M.
remember that the image tag has to be lower-case (so img not IMG).
Yeah, I tried that. Even used the in-built image tagger, still didn't work. I think it just doesn't like me yet :p
M.
If anyone is interested, here's how I'll be formatting the "Places, People, and Quests" section of my DM binder for my upcoming setting. This is one villages info, and serves as a document for me to reference when the PC's enter town.
Any sort of feedback (including negative) is greatly welcome. Keep in mind that not all of the quest stuff is there just yet. Also, tips on how to write quests would be nice. I'm contemplating making several quests that interlink several communities (One for a certain brand of ale actually interlinks everyone to a single small hamlet).
Formatting isn't final, and like I said any feedback that's constructive would be welcome. I think I may rip out the whole section on how I describe people and flesh it out better, or write it in a more concise way.
http://files.filefront.com/cer+Draft+1pdf/;12814288;/fileinfo.html
^^Download there
M.
Ok, updated version of the village doc, AND one on Religion.
Here: http://files.filefront.com/Cheo+Setting+Stuffzip/;12825247;/fileinfo.html
If someone could remake that icon I use for the pantheon, I would appreciate it. They're supposed to be jewels, but I didn't have the know-how to make it look good.
M.
Quote from: CheomeshTyranical Cynnings are normally murdered by the freemen, under sacred law.
Finally.
That's what I call smart government. :pwned:
Yep yep. Hope to write more on the stratas of society soon. I had to drop the slavery bit for the moment, figuring it would be too controversial. I wanted my discussions about the content and the fluff, not about morality. More coming soon, just got home from a (non alcoholic) all nighter.
M.
Anyone who would like a more in depth view can check here:
http://files.filefront.com/About+Vael+Draft+1pdf/;12852341;/fileinfo.html
It's a PDF of data. NOT FINISHED, but I am tired and thought it wise to toss this up now. Someone's bound to read it and post about what they want answered while I'm asleep so I can get right on it when I get up.
M.
New things: http://files.filefront.com/Campaign+So+Farrar/;12911999;/fileinfo.html
M.