Introduction: Controlling everything west of the Curtaneous Mountains is the Kingdom of Estram. This kingdom of humans, currently ruled by King Edgard I, traces its history back to before the formation of the First Empire. Once but one small village among many in the jungle, the first king of Estram, King Ed the Ambitious, took inspiration from the newly-formed First Empire, earning his kingship through the conquest of surrounding villages. King Ed funneled the wealth of the villages to the then-village of Estram, allowing the tiny settlement to grow into the City of Estram that stands between the ocean and the jungle today. The kingdom has spent the last millennium in the precarious position of the First Empire’s closest ally, providing a stalwart trading and political partner despite the risk of becoming the next nation to join the larger, more powerful empire. In choosing to support the First Empire in all things, Estram precludes the need for invasion and annexation, allowing the Estramic monarchy to exercise absolute power on their island. Whatever the value the First Emperor actually sees in allowing the Kingdom of Estram to maintain independence, the fact remains that the First Emperor’s influence is strongly felt in Estramic culture and politics. Good relations with the Angco Republic to the east have always been forced by the Curtaneous Mountains between them and the difficulties posed by an amphibious invasion. The kings of Estram would conquer Angco in a heartbeat if they could figure out how to do it. The regular citizens of Estram are mostly supportive of some kind of absolute monarchy, although a sizable portion would rather it be the actual First Emperor and not one of his wannabes, and another sizable portion would rather be ruled by Rosaline, the ancient dragon who lives on Fizsaire. King Edgard expends considerable resources to prevent these cults from gaining too much power, although it is a constant battle.
Magic and Technology: The Kingdom of Estram has benefited greatly from its close ties to the First Empire, or at least the wealthy people of the capital city have. Pretty much anything that could be found for sale in the First Empire can also be found in Estramic markets, although for a much higher price to account for the journey across the ocean. This has created a similar, albeit more extreme, version of the dynamic present in the First Empire where magic items and services are easily acquired by the wealthy while the working classes are left with a quality of life no better than medieval peasants from the real world. Most citizens of Estram would love to be able to afford to have more magic in their lives but cannot afford such luxuries. Anyone who wishes to learn magic in the kingdom must either learn what they can from folk traditions or travel to the capital city of the kingdom to attend the only school of magic in the kingdom, the Royal Academy of Magic. All socially acceptable forms of spellcasting and enchanting are taught at the Academy, although anyone wishing to practice channeling or mastering their inherent magical abilities must do so without the support of the academy. Despite perceptions of the entire country being an inferior wannabe of the First Empire, the quality of magical education at the Royal Academy is on par with, if not better than, the top First Imperial schools of magic.
Society: Much like the First Empire, the culture and government of the Kingdom of Estram has been built around a single person with absolute power, the Estramites have simply chosen to center a royal line, lacking the immortal ruler the First Empire has. Other than this one key difference, it is fair to say that most citizens of the kingdom believe that they live in an egalitarian, meritocratic society where anyone can be anything (save for the king) if they are competent and ambitious enough. While this may be true in theory, those who are born into wealthy families tend to have a much easier time achieving their goals than common citizens. In apparent contrast to their values of equality and meritocracy, the people of Estram have a generally positive view on the monarchy and the work it has done to keep the kingdom independent for so long. Because of this, most are willing to accept a higher than normal amount of policing and paranoia about cults over the past few years. As long as a majority of people are able to live successful, peaceful lives, the imperfections of the Kingdom of Estram will be overlooked.
Religion: In yet another move inspired by the First Empire, the Estramic religion is one that deifies the nation's leader, making all laws religious laws and lawbreaking akin to heresy. To enforce this, each village is expected to maintain a temple to the monarchy in its center where the mayor and 3-5 priests can organize tax collection and criminal courts. Low-ranking members of the clergy, deacons, act as police officers and guards until such a time that they prove themselves ready for the full priesthood. The deacons and priests are also expected to maintain a royal effigy inside the temple where taxes are left and which prayers are directed to. Unlike the First Empire, the Estramic Monarchs are not thought of as universal avatars of all divine will, but rather they are considered to be the absolute rulers of all things on Fizsaire, plants, animals, and spirits. When a king or queen dies, they join the pantheon of past monarchs which are said to watch over and guide their island from beyond the grave. Over time, it has also been the responsibility of the Estramic priests and mayors to investigate and root out any religious practices other than the worship of the monarchs, an issue that has ebbed and flowed over the last thousand years.
City of Estram: The capital city of the Kingdom of Estram is also called Estram, it being the original seat of the Estramic monarchy and the place to which all of the spoils of conquest were funneled to. Today it is a massive, wealthy city that is also the only true city in the kingdom. Being on the coast, the City of Estram is also the only tradeport that the kingdom maintains. All of this wealth and trade has given the upper classes access to every luxury they could want, along with the ability to buy it. Meanwhile, a middle class has formed in the city that provides a certain buffer between the upper and lower classes. The middle class of the city lives in relative comfort in exchange for working the management and professionalized jobs that upper class folks don't want to do and lower class folks lack the education to do. This system has remained fairly stable through the years, save for the occasional religious revolt by heretics and cultists. While the city is home to the Royal Mausoleum, the largest temple to the monarchy in the kingdom, as well as the royal palace, Edhome, this is also where the largest number of followers of the First Imperial Cult reside, thanks in part to the large presence of First Imperial merchants and diplomats in the city. Proving the diversity of the city, it is also the only place on the island known to have a branch of the Gnome Mafia in active operation. Overall, it is impressive that such a large, diverse city functions as well as it does.
Villages: While the City of Estram is massive, the majority of the kingdom's subjects live in small villages scattered throughout the jungle. Each village is administered by a mayor and his team of priests to the monarchy, although there is a lot of variability in how strictly different leaders enforce laws and collect taxes. Mayors are personally appointed by the sitting monarch and priests are usually promoted from the ranks of local deacons when a position opens up. This is the only real form of social mobility in the villages, as most people are expected to do work harvesting resources from the jungle to send to the capital for export. They are paid wages which comfortably cover their housing and food needs, but deacons, priests, and mayors all earn enough from their positions to pay for magic items and luxuries from off the island. Apparently, most people are satisfied with their more traditional, simpler lives so long as taxes aren't too high and the law doesn't give them too much trouble, so this system has worked well for over 1,000 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment