Government: The Human Nation

Structure of the Government

The government of the Human nation is a rather traditional model; there is a hereditary monarch who rules the land, and he has various lieutenants who rule over specific regions on his behalf. The difference is a matter of scale; instead of a King ruling over a vast area there is a lowly Baron as the monarch, and instead of Dukes and Counts as his lieutenants there are petty Lords and Mayors. Each township in the nation has a Lord or Mayor, Lords being hereditary and Mayors being elected. Armley, Cheslyn, Dunstable, and Mortehoe each have a Lord, while the more distant Ambergate and Tideswell have Mayors instead. The Baron technically also holds the title of Lord of Mondegreen, but Baron Ebraen Coel has delegated those duties to his son, Alliver.

Smaller villages in the nation are led by either Reeves or Ritters, again the difference being that Reeves are elected and Ritters are hereditary. Butterwatch, Denning, Downey, Lothar, Palesdon, and Seidle all have Reeves, while the rest of the villages have Ritters. Other smaller settlements exist that don’t appear on the map; they fall under the leadership of the nearest town or village. All of these settlements and villages fall into one of the townships and answer to the Lord or Mayor of the town. Armley Township includes only Butterwatch, while Ambergate Township includes only Palesdon. Tolsen, Grovel, and Denning are all part of Cheslyn Township, while Sableton, Hoskin, and Bray fall into Mortehoe Township. Between those two is Mondegreen Township, which includes Vander and Illsop. On the north side of the Bay is Tideswell Township, which encompasses Lothar and Downey. Finally, on Perry Island, Dunstable Township controls Seidle, Cobury, and Oundle.

Geography

The Human nation is probably the most geographically fragmented. The bulk of the nation is situated on the south side of the Bay, separated from Willem’s Land by Prewett Sound. This section features the only river in human territory, the Sulliver River, which forms the border with the Alfar nation. The area around Mortehoe and over to the ruins of Southwold are covered by the Roscoe Forest. This forest is largely evergreen pines and spruces, but there are stands of the purple-leaved blackwood trees as well. Further east the wood gives way to open farmland. The terrain eventually becomes rocky in the area of Denning and Grovel and continuing on to the coast, though patches of this terrain are still suitable for farming. The coast of the southern land is fairly tame, much of it featuring quiet beaches, though there is a notable rocky prominence near Cheslyn at the Point, which is the site of a large lighthouse. The coast is, however, extremely rocky at the mouth of the main Bay, the only low points being the nestled locations of Butterwatch and Armley.

On the north side of the Bay, adjacent to the Hodekin nation, is Tideswell Township. This area, as well as the Alfar territory up to Nefyn, is the most fertile farmland in the Bay, producing as much as one-eighth of the Bay’s food each year. In the north, Ambergate Township is also situated in the centre of grassy farmland; and just across North Circling from that region is Perry Island. The entirety of the island is covered with a large Bamboo forest, except for a copse of blackwoods inside the walls of Blackwood Abbey, from which the abbey takes its name. Before the Freeze, the island was forested with blackwoods, but the quicker-growing bamboo has since completely taken over. The coasts of Tideswell and Ambergate Townships are simple strands, but Perry Island is much more rocky, especially in the north around Seidle. This rockiness extends out in the form of the Mardon Islands, which are largely uninhabited, save for one or two lone souls hiding from the rest of society.

Industry

A large part of Human nation’s industry is devoted to food. Farming, fishing, herding, hunting, even a little whaling; all practiced by the humans of the Bay and all putting food on the table. Whaling and butterbast hunting are centred around the mouth of Butter Bay and so are primarily an industry of Butterwatch and Armley. Those two, along with the other coastal settlements, especially Tolsen, Seidle, Palesdon, and Bray, all have robust fishing economies. Tideswell and its neighbours are primarily farming communities, though Tideswell also serves as a waypoint for trade goods crossing the Bay. Ambergate has a similar role as a centre of both farming and trade further north, with Palesdon housing the harbour itself. Farmland dots the countryside from Prewett Sound all the way to Denning, though it becomes spottier in the east due to the rockier ground. During the growing season, everyone not normally involved in food production is expected to pitch in, and there are even laws mandating this, meaning that in the spring people are shipped out of the towns to tenements in the country to work the fields. The Roscoe Forest has a great deal of hunting, and there are even some herders in the area around Mortehoe.

In contrast, non food-related industry is much less rampant. Whaling provides useful oils which are used in lamps and candles, and reindeer and other animals provide hides, leather, and wool. Illsop and the other Roscoe Forest settlements have some logging, reduced in recent years due to the destruction of the lumber mill in Southwold, but are preparing for a resurgence with a new mill now completed in Mortehoe. On Perry Island the bamboo is cut for construction material as well. The only mining operations in the Human nation are the copper mines in Grovel and Denning; there used to also be iron mines in Sableton and Hoskin, but the easily minable veins have all been tapped and run dry. However, because of those mines and the silver mine across the Silver River in the Alfar nation, there are metalworks and even a mint, the only one in the Bay, in Mortehoe. Cheslyn is home to the Human nation’s shipyard, operated by the Morgeth family, and Cobury is well known for its horses, generally agreed to be the finest to be found in the Bay. Unlike the other nations, the humans have no standing military camps, but there is a militia training yard in Mondegreen, and many civilians have basic training there at some point in their youth.

Possible Adventure Hooks

The mint in Mortehoe is a ripe topic for adventure. Despite the sense of community that bind the Bay together, there are always unscrupulous individuals who seek to gain at the expense of others. A group of bandits might attack the mint and make off with sackloads of coins. Perhaps someone important was injured or killed in the attack and there is now a bounty on the heads of the bandits. Shipments of copper from Grovel and Denning, silver from Sulliver, or gold from Carsett are also potential targets.

Dunstable and Mondegreen, being the largest towns in the Bay, both have their share of internal strife. From petty thieves and pickpockets to organized criminals and potential revolutionaries, all of these could lead to adventure. Tracking down a treasured pocket watch that was stolen from a struggling merchant could turn out to be simple, or could lead to a tangled web involving the Blackwood Scions attempting to storm the Silver Keep or assassinate the Baron.

An attempt to get a fishing trawler repaired in Cheslyn could set your adventurers on a long chain of tasks involving bribing clerks, investigating late wood shipments, transporting messages, and retrieving macguffins from the varker-infested ruins of Southwold.

Wednesday: Southwold

Race: Humans

What is a Human?

The humans of Butter Bay are very much what you would expect; they look very much like us, act much like we do—they essentially are us. The majority of humans are between 5’6” and 6’6”, but there are always anomalies, meaning that you could very well find a human that is much taller (or shorter). Some humans are as tall as 8 feet, but those are exceptional individuals and are not to be taken as the norm. Humans are sometimes extremely short as well, even being as short as hodekin in some cases, but again these are unusual cases. Most humans living in the Bay are much closer to 6 feet.

In terms of other features, the majority of humans in the Bay have light skin, though usually not as pale as an alfar. There are also a small number who have dark skin like an elben, and it is even theorized by some that the darker tone is a result of elben blood, but the theory is unconfirmed and those individuals do not share any other elben traits such as cold tolerance. The usual hair colour for humans is a neutral brown, but there is variance and some humans have blonde hair like alfar, or black hair like elben or uruk, or even red hair like hodekin. More than half of all humans in the Bay have brown eyes, but a sizable minority have blue eyes instead, often being quite vivid in hue. Some humans with uruk blood may even have brilliant violet eyes, but humans never have green eyes from alfar or elben blood.

What are Humans like?

Humans are a varied lot; they don’t have one specific trait that is common to most individuals like the other races. The one thing they do have in common as a race is that they are survivors. Barton Butter is seen as the ultimate symbol of their drive to live on, a simple man who saw what was happening and the coming consequences and did what was needed to stop it. Humans are viewed by the other races of the Bay as arbiters and peacemakers, primarily because of Barton Butter’s actions.

How humans see themselves is a more complicated matter as it depends on the individual. Some embrace the role of arbitrator of disputes, some become haughty and try to enforce their views on others, some shy away from expectations and refuse to get involved in the disputes of others. Only a small few truly accept and understand both the privileges and responsibilities that come from being seen as leaders, and see the difficult position that the war has put the humans of the Bay in. The other races expect the humans to step in and bring an end to the war, but both sides see themselves as being in the right; Baron Ebraen Coel fears the fallout of choosing either side as it could tear the society of the Bay apart completely. Both sides will always see themselves as right, and if the humans pick either side there will inevitably be resentment from the losing side.

And so the humans collectively walk a thin line, trying to be fair and hold the people of the Bay together. If they fail, the last century-and-a-half will be lost, and the legacy of those first struggling survivors of the Freeze will be destroyed. Leadership, real or imagined, earned or granted, is a heavy burden, and one that all humans share.

Human Society

The society of the humans of Butter Bay is perhaps more what you would expect of a medieval culture than of the other races. For most life is quite simple, they do their work in the fields or the mines, they hunt or they fish; in the towns merchants peddle wares purchased from craftsmen from around the Bay. The majority of humans are fairly poor, but the Baron’s government is devoted to maintaining the well-being of its people and even the poorest can be assured enough food and clothing to sustain them. This large lower class keeps the wealthier middle class merchants and artisans afloat. At the top of the heap are the nobles such as the Baron and his family, and the Lords of the various townships. Even the nobles, however, do not have the grand riches that one would expect of nobility; before the Freeze these were just petty aristocrats in a far greater empire.

Women are treated well among humans; though they don’t enjoy the same entrenched legal protection as they would in the Uruk nation, they are still far more equal than yadekin are among hodekin. Women generally take care of the home and children, rather than doing the heavy work of mining, but when the growing season comes they work the same long hours in the fields as men. In fishing villages many women serve as crew on the trawlers and there are even a small number of female captains. Finally, women do serve in the militia, but mainly in support roles; even so, a woman serving on the front lines in heavy armour may be unusual, but it is not considered surprising or controversial. Most people have at least some basic combat training, male or female, and all carry their saeges with them at all times, so no-one is ever without some protection.

In the Bay, survival and the propagation of the people is considered important, so everyone is expected to marry and have children, at least enough to replace themselves. Despite this, same-sex relations are quite common, especially among militiamen. While the hodekin don’t consider same-sex relations to be sex, the same is not true among humans. Cheating, however, is a less grievous offence, so long as you are discreet about it. Most women are willing to accept their husband having a bit on the side, so long as he comes home at night. It is also not uncommon for women to philander a bit, both with other women and with family of their husband. This is seen as acceptable because though the children a man raises might not be his own, they are at least blood.

Human Faith

The teachings and faith of the humans is the baseline from which the other races’ faiths are compared. Their story of Voland being born from the holy fires of Muspel and setting out to create the world is that which the others' are based on. It is said by some that Voland created humans first, that they were his most trusted and beloved children; he created the other races in attempts to improve upon his first creation, but was never able to surpass them. This isn’t generally understood to mean that humans are better than other races, only that they are the most basic, most even, and most versatile form of thinking being there is. Alfar may be wiser and elben smarter, uruks may be stronger, hodekin sturdier and yadekin nimbler, but humans have a strength of spirit that is unmatched.

The stories tell that while the other races raged against Bishal, trying to destroy her icy grip on the world, the humans were the first Keepers, watching over Voland’s body and healing him with their faith and love. Though other races held Bishal at bay and fought her demonic spawn for every last inch of the world, it was the humans who brought Voland back and stood by his side when he banished Bishal and her brood back to the frozen wastes of Nifel. This legacy of leadership and faith has lasted through the ages, through the kings of great empires, and finally through to Barton Butter, resulting in the survival of the Bay.

Monday: The Human Nation

Source of Magic: The Kindred

Like the Academy and the Order, members of all races join the Kindred and commune with the spirits of nature, but its membership is overwhelmingly made up of alfar, and politically they are anything but neutral. In the Bay, they are viewed by many as focused on their own affairs and agendas, not caring for the well-being of the people if it interferes with their goals.

Primal Magic

Nature spirits are everywhere, inhabiting every rock and every tree, every ant and fish, the rivers and the mountains. Communication with these spirits is not, however, a simple matter, and requires coming to terms with yourself and your place within the world as a whole. While the Academy looks outward at the workings of the universe, the Kindred looks inward at the self, and only those who can do so gain power from the spirits.

Classes from 4th Edition D&D whose power originates from the Kindred’s teachings include: the druid, shaman, seeker, and warden. The barbarian is only somewhat connected to the Kindred, and their particular teachings are considered to be misguided, at best, and an abuse of the spirits at worst. Druids allow the spirits of animals to enter and transform them, and the others work in conjunction with spirits. Barbarians learn instead to emulate the spirits’ rage without the aid of the spirits themselves; learning this involves capturing spirits and imprisoning them within the barbarian and allowing the rage to take control. Over time the barbarian no longer needs the spirit to enter this wrathful state and it is released, but still the process angers many in the Kindred, and so barbarians often hide themselves from the more orthodox.

Structure of the Kindred

While the Kindred is treated as a single entity by most of the people of Butter Bay, it is really several, having an individual overall leader who represents their political interests. There are actually five Kindreds, each teaching a different path to power through the spirits; druids form one Kindred, shaman another, and the same for wardens, seekers, and barbarians. The Barbarian Kindred, however, is at odds with the others over their treatment of the spirits as mere means to an end rather than beings to be respected and revered. As a result, the Barbarian Kindred is not officially recognized by the others as being a member of the greater whole; on the other hand, the others have not actively tried to end the barbarians’ practices, but the consensus is that they simply have their hands full with one war. It is believed by many in the Kindred that they will put an end to the barbarians once they’ve won the war and are done destroying the Academy.

The political leader of the Kindred is the Seer, who holds their seat on the Belltower Council, but each Kindred has its own leadership as well. The druids are led by a heredity council of 3 Arch-Druids; tremendous pressure is put on the children of Arch-Druids to become a druid and measure up to their parents’ expectations. The seekers and wardens each have tournaments every 5 years to determine who is the most powerful in their ranks, and those becomes their leaders, the Arch-Seeker and the Arch-Warden. The shamans elect their Arch-Shaman every 7 years, each shaman having to come to agreement with their spirit companion before casting their vote. Finally, the barbarians, ever outside the realm of process and protocol have taken a cue from the varkers; those that have the strength to take power have, in their eyes, earned it, being known by the title of Grand Fury. The current Seer, Olwen vo Nayer is also the current Arch-Seeker, and is the nephew of the eldest of the Arch-Druids, Graeden vo Nayer, and cousin of the youngest, Floras vo Nayer, Graeden’s daughter.

Joining the Kindred

Becoming a member of the one of the Kindreds begins with expressing and interest. There is no school to attend, no study of books or memorizing of scripture, you seek out a willing teacher and learn to commune with the spirits. As simple as that sounds, it usually takes a long time, and many who try give up in frustration. The truth is that there is no one thing that you can really do to force it to happen, the spirits will not speak to you until they deem you ready, and the vast majority of people never will be. As with so much about the Kindred, the process depends on which Kindred's teachings you pursue.

Seekers and wardens have much in common, and most seekers choose a warden to be their spouse, and vice versa. They focus primarily on meditation, exploring your inner self to reach an understanding and tranquillity that the spirits will respect. Meditation is supplemented with learning martial skills, such as the proper use of weapons. Once contact is eventually made with the spirits, the true work begins; the prospective seeker or warden must earn the trust of the spirits and learn to direct them, using a weapon as a conduit for the spirits’ power. Those who choose to fight from a distance become seekers, and those who fight up close become wardens. The two styles complement one another, and having a seeker and a warden together proves extremely potent.

For shamans it is not about reaching a goal, a point when one can wield the spirits power like a hammer, rather it is all about the journey, forming a relationship with one particular spirit. Shamans often use mind-altering herbs and mushrooms to aid the exploration of the spirit world and the self. A prospective shaman will spent many long hours simply wandering within their own mind, searching the spirit world for that one spirit that is their match. In a way, the process is almost like dating, as student and spirit get to know each other before deciding that there is a match or isn’t. Once the shaman has found his or her spirit companion the two are inseparable, learning absolutely all there is to know about the other. Perhaps ironically, shamans are usually single, very few engaging in romance with other mortals, in effect they are married to their spirit companion; it is even said by some that when a shaman dies their spirit companion passes on with him. Though rare, occasionally a shaman will do something to damage the bond with their companion and the spirit will choose to leave. Because a shaman’s power is derived from the bond with his companion, in these cases the shaman must seek a new companion, or attempt to reconcile with their original.

When learning the ways of the spirits, druids often journey into the wilderness alone. They do this to better observe nature without the interference of civilization and industry. They meditate, study the weather, they study the trees and animals, sometimes they even stalk animals or live among them. The end result is a deep understanding of the creatures and forces of nature, which allows them to will the spirits into aiding them. Druid are often considered the most reasonable of all the Kindred, often considering and weighing all the factors before making a decision. Once that decision is made, however, they will defend it to the last, no matter what new evidence comes to light.

Finally, the practices of the barbarians have already been discussed. Many that become barbarians are students of the other Kindreds who found themselves unable to reach the spirits, unable to succeed in their goal, and so they choose to take an easier route to power; if the spirits will not give their power then it must be taken from them. Barbarians are usually fairly short-sighted, even a danger to themselves when in a state of rage. They are incredibly protective of their own, however, and view an insult to one barbarian as an insult to all.

Friday: The Human Race

No Post Today

Apparently I got behind myself, so I didn't complete today's post yet. There should be a post on Wednesday, which may or may not be the post that was supposed to be today's.

Threat: Merrow, Part 2

What are Merrow like? What are Vellans like?

Merrow largely keep to themselves, they do not live among or interact with other races except for their slaves, and very little is known about them by the people of the Bay. Encounters with merrow invariably end in conflict, as the aquatic beings are extremely territorial. Their borders are not marked in any visible way, the merrow simply expect outsiders to know and react accordingly. This means that vessels sailing out of the relative safety of the confines of the Bay risk provoking the ire of the merrow at any moment, and being blown about by a storm is all the more perilous.

Vellans, on the other hand, prove extremely docile when encountered. After generations of enslavement few, if any, consider the possibility of their lives being different. Those who are aggressive are weeded out and killed by their masters, so even when confronted by non-merrow they rarely attack. If ever they do, it will be at the urging of their masters, and they will run from combat as soon as there are no longer any merrow to force them to continue. The merrow use vellans for all the most dangerous and labour-intensive jobs, especially those that involve going onto land for long periods of time, such as mining useful ores.

Merrow Society

Most of the information in this section is unknown to the people of the Bay, even the most well studied individuals. As DM, it is at your discretion to decide what details are known to the player characters. The society of the merrow is very clearly separated along caste lines and it is almost three distinct cultures.

Warriors keep largely to themselves; strength, skill, and survival are the key factors in determining rank; the oldest are usually the highest ranking. Sometimes a warrior of lower rank might challenge a superior’s authority; the matter is settled with a duel to the death. The warriors patrol the borders of the tribe’s territory, killing first and asking questions never. They are also responsible for keeping the vellans in line, serving as guardsmen, slave drivers, and executioners when the need arises. Warriors live in communal barracks with their brethren, eating simple food and having few tangible luxuries.

In contrast, the royals live in opulence. They still live communally, but rather than in cramped barracks they live in the spacious tribal palace. Royals have fine clothing, fancy decorations and jewellery, and nearly any other indulgence you can imagine. Meals are great feasts with rich and varied dishes, often featuring the flesh of specially selected and plumped vellans or, more rarely, other races like those that live in the Bay.

The worker caste is the glue that holds the race together. They are the most numerous, and do a large part of the work that keeps their society functioning. Workers oversee and direct the efforts of the vellans; they see that sufficient food is produced; they are the bureaucrats, administrators and servants. The workers of each tribe usually live in a large town surrounding the palace of the royals, but also have other smaller communities elsewhere. The worker caste also live among the warriors, seeing to the more technical aspects of supporting armed troops. Each worker belongs to a brood, a large group of workers hatched from eggs laid at the same time; the brood is like their family, and each brood usually takes on a specific task with all its members working to the fulfilment of that goal. Some workers take it upon themselves to learn magic that might be beneficial to the tribe and so are found among the warriors serving as healers and artillery.

Each tribe has a Queen, one female royal who rules over the tribe and is never questioned. The Queen is larger than the rest of the female royals, her torso is roughly the same but her tail swells up until it is nearly 6 times the size of her torso. She rarely moves from her throne; the royals have all their feasts there in the throne room to accommodate her presence. Whenever a tribe’s Queen dies, her corpse releases a chemical into the waters of the palace that causes the other females to become engorged as they produce a single extremely large egg. Whichever female lays her egg first is selected as the new Queen. She then devours the egg and promptly falls into a coma as her body transforms into that of a Queen, a process that takes roughly a month. Once the transformation is complete, she awakens and begins producing and laying eggs at an increased rate. The new Queen rules until she dies, when the process begins again. Occasionally females take this opportunity to begin their own tribe, in which case they travel to a new territory with at least one male and devour their egg to begin the transformation; members of that Queen’s original tribe are generally hostile toward the new tribe, seeing them as traitors.

Using Merrow and Vellans in Play

To use merrow and vellans as opponents in your D&D game there are a number of options. For vellans, you can use the same sort of monsters as you might use to represent varkers, simply add a swim speed and give them the aquatic keyword. Merrow are a more complicated matter; your players should rarely ever have to face royals, but warriors and workers would appear in combat. You can use such creatures as sahuagin, craud, or even chuuls to represent these castes, but given the scant nature of available stand-ins, I plan to post a number of example monsters in the future. These will give you a better idea of how they operate in combat and serve as a starting point for you to design or modify your own.

Monday: The Human Race

Threat: Merrow, Part 1

The coast and sea north and south of Butter Bay are the domain of the aquatic merrow. With their slaves, the vellans, they rule with figuratively iron fists and literally scaled bodies.

What is a Merrow?

The merrow could best be described as merfolk, though their upper bodies are covered in the same scales as their lower portions. Though naturally aquatic, they can come up out of the water for periods of time, resting on their strong snake-like tails. They can’t live out of the water on a permanent basis, generally requiring to take a swim at least every 12 hours or risk drying out. They can survive up to 30 hours out of the water, but it is in no way comfortable and they get progressively weaker the longer they are in the open air.

Merrow do not have genders as we know them; most of their people are genderless beings that never mate. Instead their race is divided into a number of physically different castes. The majority of their race is split between the warrior and worker castes.

The Three Castes

Warriors are extremely large and have an exoskeleton like a crab or a lobster, meaning that they are naturally armoured. They can also stay out of the water for about 50% longer than the other castes (18 hours comfortably, 45 hours before dying). The warriors’ shells are usually bright red, but variants ranging from yellow to nearly black do occur. It is common among most tribes to tattoo themselves with dark blue-purple markings that show their rank in the caste.

Physically, the worker caste is distinct because of the workers’ limbs; unlike the other castes they actually have legs instead of just a tail, and their tail is shorter and far less muscular. In addition to their four legs, they also have four arms where the other castes have only two. For most workers, one pair of arms is dominant, being stronger and larger than the other pair. The scales of the worker caste vary greatly, ranging from black to white, red to yellow, or green to blue; really nearly any colouration is possible.

The last caste is the royal caste, which does have normal gender. Females lay eggs without requiring fertilization, and those eggs will naturally hatch and develop into warrior caste. It is possible for a male to fertilize the eggs after they have been laid, in which case they will become worker caste, or the eggs can be fertilized before being laid through normal sex, which results in the eggs growing into royal caste. Within any given tribe it is usual to destroy most eggs not laid by that tribe’s queen.

In appearance, the royal caste are most like the archetypal merfolk; they have a humanlike upper body, and a long fish tail below. While they do have scales all across their body, some royal merrow have scales of a different colour above their tails, resulting in an appearance that the two halves are distinct and separate. The colouration of royals varies as much as the worker caste, but royals from the same tribe are usually similarly hued. Many royals also have small scaled tendrils that look somewhat like hair on their heads; these are always either pure white or pure black, or a mixture of the two.

What is a Vellan?

Finally, outside of the merrow race itself are their slaves, the vellans. Vellans are extremely similar to varkers, small furry rodent-like creatures. The difference is that vellans are aquatic in nature with oily fur that water simply rolls off of. If a varker would be compared with a rat or weasel, a vellan is more like a beaver or a muskrat. Because they lived largely on the coast, nearly all vellans have been subjugated and enslaved by the merrow, but it might be possible to find isolated free tribes further inland living in large lakes.

Friday: Part 2

Government: The Elben Nation

Structure of the Government

The government of the Elben nation is a very simple one. Individual villages are each led by an elected Reeve. Once elected to the position, it is for life, unless the Reeve chooses to step down. A village’s Reeve is not an absolute ruler, but rather makes decisions after consultation with the people in village meetings. The town of Garstang actually has two Reeves, one for the west side of town, and one for the east side. The villages marked on the map are joined by many unmarked communities of smaller sizes, especially throughout the Garwood and in the country around Louth.

Leading the nation as a whole is the Graf. The Graf is advised by the various Reeves, as well as by the Headmaster of the Academy, and a few other individuals with specific expertise. Like the Reeves, the tenure in the position is for life unless he or she chooses to step down. Unlike the Reeves, however, the position is not an elected one. To select a new Graf, each Reeve nominates one person to the position; Reeves cannot be nominated unless they step down before the nominations begin. A candidate does not have to accept the nomination if they don’t want the position. Any citizen of the Elben nation who does not currently hold the position of Reeve is a potential candidate.

Once all the nominees have either accepted or rejected their nomination, those who accepted continue on to a series of tests. Each test focuses on a different subject; some are physical, some are mental, some are knowledge based. After each test, those candidates who did not pass are eliminated, and those remaining continue to the next test, until only one is left. If all candidates fail any given test, the results of that test are discarded and they all move on to the next. Once the testing has concluded with one candidate remaining, that person becomes the new Graf; there is no ceremony or fanfare, they simply take up residence at a house called the Grafshall in Garstang.

Geography

The bulk of the territory of the Elben nation rests on the north side of the Rottel Bay. In the far west is the cliff, which marks the border of inhabited territory, and the waterfall on the Torrent River, the Tallfalls, near the village of the same name. A small stretch of rocky terrain gives way to the heavy forest of the Garwood. The coast of Rottel Bay, from Tallfalls to Garstang, is rough and rocky and in many places features low cliffs at the water’s edge. Further east, past the Garwood, the terrain is somewhat rocky, but mostly flat farmland, especially beyond the River Gar. The coast south-east of Garstang retains the rocky nature, but the cliffs drop down and eventually give way to a simple beach-like strand.

A small section of the south shore is also controlled by the Elben nation, comprised almost completely of farmland and pastures for reindeer herds. A few small islands sit in the main Bay, and serve as part of the extended naval base at Haven. The only major river actually in elben territory is the River Gar, which is the largest river in the Bay, both in width and rate of flow. However, the Canal also forms the far eastern border of the nation.

Industry

The nation’s economy is a varied one. The four communities in the Garwood Forest all harvest lumber as a large part of their economy; Vellis and Plevor devote about half of their energy to logging, while Crawdon and Goole give it a heavier emphasis. Garstang has the largest lumber mill in the Bay, with many of the un-milled logs floated down the River Gar from Goole, and others brought by cart and boat from the coastal villages. An impact crater near the village of Tallfalls is mined by the local populace for the valuable skymetal the elben forge their klaeth’s from. Finally, the quarry at Norwick provides the nation with the multi-hued marble that the elben use for constructing nearly all their buildings.

Food production is also a significant portion of the nation’s economy. Vellis and Plevor have significant fishing industries, and Garstang, Tallfalls and Tandry supplement their other industries with fishing as well. Garstang is also a centre for farming and reindeer herding, industries shared with the village of Louth on the north side of Rottel Bay, and Tandry, Elland, and Sellick on the south side.

Haven is now primarily a naval base, but, like Canalside, it used to be a community in its own right. Some military training, primarily naval, is conducted in Haven, but the elben and uruks also do much of their training in isolated camps in the Garwood. Though many of their militias’ weapons are made in the Uruk nation, bladesmiths throughout the Elben nation make klaeths and saeges. 

Possible Adventure Hooks

The first of our suggested adventure hooks for the Elben nation is actually more specifically about the Academy. Given the arcane magic that abounds on the Academy grounds, all manner of potential dangers could arise. One student, having gained his or her powers through a deal with a demon, might be trying to lure other students into some sort of Bishalic cult. Friends or family of victims might seek the help of adventurers to rescue their loved ones, or the Academy’s administration may want the cultists rooted out and dealt with quietly, so as not to give those who revile the arcane arts more ammunition to use against the Academy. Alternatively, it may be a member of the faculty luring students into the cult, even a member of the Academy Board.

The Garwood is one of the nation’s great resources. The forest provides both lumber and rich hunting grounds, and a threat to those supplies could prove disastrous. A disease or infestation could threaten both the flora and fauna, or could even transmogrify them, setting loose an army of mutant beasts and treants upon the innocent citizenry. To go a simpler route, fire is always a threat when it comes to forests, and saving lost or trapped hunters and woodcutters from the advancing flames could prove to be an adventure all on its own.

Finally there is the skymetal mined in Tallfalls. Elben klaeths and even some of their finer saeges are made from this mysterious material. Lightweight but strong, easy to work with but never loses its edge; the skymetal would be quite a prize for the alfar and hodekin if they were able to capture a supply. Your adventurers could even be sent far behind enemy lines to sabotage the mine and steal as much as they can. Doing that would be a blow to both the Elben nation’s militia and their pride and morale.

Wednesday: The Threat of Merrow

Population & Demographics

Today’s post is a bit of a departure from previous content; it is much more about logistics than story. I feel that it might be useful to know the relative proportions and numbers of the various races both in Butter Bay and the individual nations, and so here it is.

Butter Bay

Beginning with the Bay as a whole, there are approximately 26 000 people living in the five nations. The inhabited territory of the Bay makes up 4489 km² or 1754 sq mi, and therefore the population density of the Bay is roughly 5.79/km² or 14.83/sq mi. Though this population density is rather low, the uncertainty of food supplies during the long winter makes it necessary.

While the population is evenly split along gender lines, the races are more varied in their numbers. Humans are the most numerous of the races, making up 33% of the total population, almost 8600 individuals. Uruks are next at 19% or 4900 individuals, followed by the hodekin at 18% or 4700. The alfar make up 14% of the Bay’s population, 3600 people, while the elben make up only 8%, 2100 people. Finally, the various half-bloods make up the remaining 8% of the population.

The half-bloods can be broken down further into the 10 combinations, the most common being aldekin (alfar-hodekin) at 1.2% of the population or about 310 individuals. Next in line are the elruks (elben-uruk), greuns (human-uruk), hodems (hodekin-human), mondels (elben-human), and sonners (alfar-human), all with 1.1% of the total population, about 280 people. Next come the rarer urdekin (hodekin-uruk) at 0.5%, 130 individuals, and the faruls (alfar-uruk) at 0.4%, 100 individuals. Lastly we arrive at the rarest varieties of half-bloods, the alps (alfar-elben) who make up only 0.25% of the total population, or 65 people, and the frightening-looking svugar (elben-hodekin) who make up 0.15%, only about 40 people in the entire Bay.

Race	Approximate %	Approximate Number
Alfar	14%	3640
Elben	8%	2080
Hodekin	18%	4680
Human	33%	8580
Uruk	19%	4980
Half-Blood	8%	2080
- Alp	0.25%	65
- Aldekin	1.2%	312
- Elruk	1.1%	286
- Farul	0.4%	104
- Greun	1.1%	286
- Hodem	1.1%	286
- Mondel	1.1%	286
- Sonner	1.1%	286
- Svugar	0.15%	39
- Urdekin	0.5%	130

Alfar Nation

The Alfar nation comprises 15% of the population of the Bay, which comes to 3900 people. As it has a land area of 1161 km² or 453 sq mi, the population density is 3.35/km² or 8.57/sq mi.

As one would expect, alfar are the most numerous race in the Alfar nation; they make up approximately 60% of the population, over 2300 people. Humans and hodekin are the bulk of the rest of the population, counting for 27% of the population between them, split fairly evenly with just over 500 people apiece. 3.3% of the population are uruks, about 130 people, while various half-bloods make up just over 8%, more than 300 individuals. A few elben also live in the Alfar nation, but comprise only 1.7% of the national population, less than 75 people.

In terms of half-bloods, aldekin are quite numerous with 3.3%, followed b y sonners with 2.7%. Faruls are about 1% of the population, and hodems, are 0.7%. Lastly, 0.3% of the population, only about 15 people, are alps. Other half-bloods may exist, but in negligible numbers.

Race	Approximate %	Approximate Number
Alfar	60.2%	2340
Elben	1.67%	65
Hodekin	13.38%	520
Human	13.38%	520
Uruk	3.34%	130
Half-Blood	8.03%	312
- Alp	0.33	13
- Aldekin	3.34%	130
- Farul	1%	39
- Hodem	0.67%	26
- Sonner	2.68%	104

Elben Nation

Only 9.75% of the people of the Bay, 2500 individuals, live in the Elben Nation. The nation’s small land area, 522 km² or 204 sq mi, means that its population density is actually higher than the Alfar nation’s; 4.85/km² or 12.42/sq mi.

The elben make up 51% of their nation, the lowest of any race in their home nation, which comes to 1300 people. Humans make up just over 15%, about 400 people, as do the uruks. Half-bloods are the next largest segment of the population at 10.3%, 250 individuals. Bringing up the rear are the 5% of the nation that are hodekin and the 2.5% that are alfar, about 130 and 60 people respectively.

The breakdown of half-bloods in the Elben nation begins with elruks and mondels, each with approximately 100 people, just over 4%. Greuns make up 1% of the population, 25 people. And alps and svugar each make up 0.5%, or about 15 people.

Race	Approximate %	Approximate Number
Alfar	2.56%	65
Elben	51.28%	1300
Hodekin	5.13%	130
Human	15.38%	390
Uruk	15.38%	390
Half-Blood	10.26%	260
- Alp	0.51%	13
- Elruk	4.1%	104
- Greun	1.03%	26
- Mondel	4.1%	104
- Svugar	0.51%	13

Hodekin Nation

In the Hodekin nation, 18.5% of the Bay’s total population live, roughly 4800 people. The nation’s land area is comparable to the Elben nation’s, 651 km² or 254 sq mi, resulting in the highest national population density of 7.39/km² or 18.91/sq mi.

Hodekin comprise nearly 65% of the nation’s people, 3100 individuals. Alfar and humans are the next largest segment with 10.8% each, a bit over 500 people. Almost 200 elben live in the nation, making up 4% of the population, while uruks are only 2.7%, about 130 people. Half-bloods make up 7.5% of the people.

Most of the Hodekin nation’s half-bloods are either aldekin, 2.7% or 130 people, or hodems, 2.1% or 100 people. Urdekin make up 1.1% of the population, roughly 50 people. 0.55%, about 25 people, are sonner, and a tiny 0.25%, about 15 people, are svugars.

Race	Approximate %	Approximate Number
Alfar	10.81%	520
Elben	4.05%	195
Hodekin	64.86%	3120
Human	10.81%	520
Uruk	2.7%	130
Half-Blood	6.76%	325
- Aldekin	2.7%	130
- Hodem	2.16%	104
- Sonner	0.54%	26
- Svugar	0.27%	13
- Urdekin	1.08%	52

Human Nation

As the most populous of the five nations, the Human nation contains almost 37% of the Bay’s people, about 9500. It is also the single largest nation in area, covering 1358 km² or 530 sq mi; this means the population density is 7.03/km² or 17.99/sq mi, rivalling the Hodekin nation.

The Human nation also boasts the most diverse balance of races in the Bay. Humans are, predictably, almost 67% of the population, nearing 6400 people. The various half-bloods make up 8.7% of the human nation. Hodekin and uruks both have respectable showings at about 8.2% of the national population, nearing 800 people each. Next are the alfar, over 500 of which live in the nation, making up almost 5.5% of the population, and last are the elben with 2.7%, over 250 individuals.

Unlike the other nations, the Human nation boasts countable populations of all ten half-blood varieties. The half-humans all boast around 1.6%, around 150 people, while non-human hybrids are less common. 0.55% of the population are aldekin, and the same for elruks, together numbering around 100, while faruls and urdekin are each 0.25%, about 25 people. When it comes to alps there are actually more in the Human nation than in either the Alfar or Elben, 0.4% of the national population, or about 40. Svugar are about as numerous in the Human nation as in the Elben and Hodekin nations, making up 0.15%, just over 10 individuals.

Race	Approximate %	Approximate Number
Alfar	5.45%	520
Elben	2.72%	260
Hodekin	8.17%	780
Human	66.76%	6370
Uruk	8.17%	780
Half-Blood	8.72%	832
- Alp	0.41%	39
- Aldekin	0.54%	52
- Elruk	0.54%	52
- Farul	0.27%	26
- Greun	1.63%	156
- Hodem	1.63%	156
- Mondel	1.63%	156
- Sonner	1.63%	156
- Svugar	0.14%	13
- Urdekin	0.27%	26

Uruk Nation

Finally, the Uruk nation is inhabited by about 20% of the Bay’s population, 5200 people. The land area of the nation is 797 km² or 311 sq mi, making the population density 6.5/km² or 16.65/sq mi.

With the highest home population of the Bay’s races, nearly 68% of the people are uruks, 3500 in total. Humans are 15% of the nation, just under 800 people, and 6% are half-blood, just over 300. Elben are the next most numerous race, making up 5% of the population or 260 people. 3.75% are alfar, less than 200 people, and lastly the hodekin comprise 2.5%, about 130 people.

The Uruk nation’s breakdown of half-bloods begins with elruks, who are 2.5% of the national population. Next down the line are greuns with 2%, about 100 people, and urdekin are half that at 1%. Faruls make up 0.75% of the population, about 40 individuals, and the smallest segment of the people are mondels, 0.5% of the people, roughly 25.

Race	Approximate %	Approximate Number
Alfar	3.76%	195
Elben	5.01%	260
Hodekin	2.51%	130
Human	15.04%	780
Uruk	67.67%	3510
Half-Blood	6.02%	312
- Elruk	2.51%	130
- Farul	0.75%	39
- Greun	2.01%	104
- Mondel	0.5%	26
- Urdekin	1%	52

Monday: The Elben Nation