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The Halfling Lord of the Seas

Halfling king of the Benaduza duumvirate, master of seas, lord of all halflings, gnomes, and any combination therein. Lawkeeper and blade of The Short One.

As a halfling, Gennio's full name in Gnomish is longer than all human names, serving as a history of his life, it repeats five times, signifying the number of past lives he is believed to have had as Halfling King, being considered a reincarnation of his father, grandfather, and the kings before them.

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Gennio is a stern king, as his title "Lawkeeper" shows, despite sharing the task of policy-making with his human counterpart, most of the land's laws were drafted by Gennio's hand. His personality mirrors his ruling style, stern and a bit of a bully. Due to the gnome's tradition of giving nicknames to their rulers for each action they do, Gennio is also known as "Ironwit", "Delayer", "The Yelling king", and "Shipslayer", all of which tell volumes about his character.

Gennio's exceptional skill at naval tactics is only tempered by his impatience and sharp wit, he is known to have quite a stinging tongue and a lack of skill in diplomatic environments due to these facts, and the fact that his fleet usually heralded a long blockade and siege rather than a diplomatic mission.

Beloved by his people, Gennio has his detractors, as his style of leadership has left Benaduza in a constant state of war, despite the attempts of the human nobles to curb his expansion. The conquest of the Ascencion archipelago was his doing. After long being a vassal state of the Benaduza kingdom, the Ascencionites refused to pay the Shipslayer's hiked taxes, and as a result were incorporated violently, an action that gave Gennio the name "The Betrayer" amongst his detractors and "The Taciturn" amongst his supporters as a result of his not attempting to re-establish diplomatic relations. Gennio's legendarily brutal conquests, refusal to negotiate, and lack of restraint, are all seen to be a symptom of his impatience, but they also show that he cares about establishing a greater Benaduza Empire.

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A skilled axeling and godspeaker, Gennio goes into battle wielding a scroll with both his laws and those of the gods upon it. He is able to utilize divine blessings simply by reading this scroll. He is hard to kill, and his very presence is enough to bolster the courage of his men.

Gennio's greatest strength, however, is his abilities as a naval tactician, considered the best in Benaduza. Even prior to his ascension to kingship his skill was renowned. His favored tactics include a massive barrage of flame arrows to burn an enemy fleet into nothing, and a charge to the enemy flagship, which he would ram into splinters. His boarding parties are weak, as halflings are poor melee combatants, but Gennio can easily carry a boarding action by himself through good command and the favor of the gods.

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Place of Birth: Dux, Benaduza
Hair: Black as coal, well kept.
Fitness: Built like a barrel, slow but hardy.
Morals: "I will do all for Benaduza, thus sayth the king."

Government: Dual Monarchy

Religion: The twin gods, The Tall One and The Short One, gods of Humans, war, and the sky, and Gnomes, Halflings, the sea, and naval conflict respectively.

Culture: Benaduza is a nation obsessed with the idea of beauty and progress, building massive constructions that serve little practical purpose other than aesthetics and building ever larger cities in the name of progression. Halflings and humans are consistantly arguing about who is more important to society, with the humans arguing that as they are the dominant race on the mainland and also the lords of the army, the Halflings should bow to them, while the halflings argue that without their islands and ships, Benaduza would be weak and pathetic. There's a rigid class system, with royalty of both races at the top, priests below them, human soldiers and halfling sailors below them, craftsmen and workers and then farmers. Merchants are treated with little respect and heavy mistrust, as they do not produce anything for Benaduza, and foreign merchants must tread carefully on Benaduzan soil.

The halflings have a strong naval tradition, with admirals often being adopted into the Halfling royal family for their service, considered the greatest gift one could receive, while the humans are of a noble army tradition, with knights considered the height of their society. Halfling society has the markings of a meritocracy, with the lower classes often promoted based on skill, whilst human society is more static. The divides between their two cultures is a large internal threat to the Benaduzan kingdom. Murder, theft, arson, treason, and blasphemy are all punishable by death, and most other smaller crimes carry prison sentences.

Economy: All that is within Benaduza stays within Benaduza, and trade is strictly regulated by the halfling navy. Gold cannot be given away, meaning that all Benaduzan trade is exports, and even then, meat products, unrefined metals, and lumber are also banned from being given away. Trade in ore, weaponry, herbs, and food is strictly prohibited, potentially leading to execution in the case of weaponry.

Current state: Benaduza is in the twilight of its power, with declining halfling birthing rates causing a scare as to the empire's dominant race's future, and as the humans gain more power, the dual monarchy is in serious danger of collapsing. Rising nationalism in the eastern islands is also cause for alarm. The halfling king is childless, and his adopted children are all older than he, bringing the future of the royal line into serious doubt, while the humans and gnomes have begun to intermarry, bringing the gnomes further from the halfling power-block and ensuring a continued human-gnome royal line.

History: The old Kingdom of Benaduza was established hundreds of years ago, when Queen Junio e'Dux conquered the last human kingdom on the mainland through a massive naval assault. The Halfling kingdom of Benaduza lasted for two hundred years until the great civil wars occurred. Angered by their lack of representation, the humans rose up and attacked the halfling castles. They seized the mainland, but proved unable to seize the kingdom's capital in Dux. The halflings sailed to the human capital in Oranth and admitted conditional defeat, creating the framework of the modern Benaduza by creating a second human monarchy and moving from Dux to Oranth.

Over the years, Benaduza has continued to attempt to establish hegemony over the southern and eastern oceans, with an amount of success. But as the streets of Dux get quieter and quieter, the future of the empire lies with the humans on the land.

Cities, forts, and other important locations:

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Sir Garandinar, Mage of Neniza.

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A mage, and a skilled one, Darlien is a born Praelian, having resided in Oranth and Neniza post fleeing his home.

Born to a Dec, Darlien's father hid his son's existence and his own latent magical ability from the Dominus unsuccessfully, though Darlien was thirteen when he was detected. During an attempt to flee, Darlien's father was slain buying time for his son and wife to escape, slaying two Dominus before being beheaded by a third.

Ending up in Benaduza, where they were detained for having weapons on board, Darlien and his mother were tossed into a dungeon and left for dead. Darlien was freed in a prison riot, though his mother was wounded. It was around this time when Darlien's magic began awakening, accidentally causing a forest fire due to a sudden blast of flame. Darlien proved to have exceptionally powerful but hard to control magic.

By the time they reached Neniza his mother had passed due to her infected wound. As the Nenizans were mostly exiles and outlaws, there were a number of magically talented men amongst them, fleeing persecution and the Artifice, and Darlien was tutored for the rest of his adolescence by some of these men, allowing him much greater control of his abilities.

As an adult, he is set to become one of the most powerful mages in the world, though mage-hunters are always a threat once you leave the forests of Neniza. His first action upon leaving was to take a boat to Praelium and setting a small village to the torch, killing all who lived within it, before sailing to On'hino and beginning to spread tales of the Praelian weakness to the warlike On'hinians, attempting to develop a following to lead an assault on the Praelians.

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Darlien's overuse of magic has had an effect on his appearance, costing him his left ring finger and causing his hands to look horrifically burned, and it's only getting worse, with his face becoming a horrifically pale white.

He is lithe and muscular, with light brown hair that has began to bleach as a result of his magic use.

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Quick-witted and hot-headed, Darlien is adventurous and youthful. Tutored in blade and magic, he's also quite arrogant, his skill is downplayed due to his "Attack, attack, attack" mentality, but he's far more intelligent than he looks, able to speak Gnomish as well as if he were born a halfling. Darlien is also learned in world history and philosophy, and can identify landmarks he'd only seen once as if he'd seen them every day of his life.

Darlien's luck and lack of need for anything else has lead to him becoming complacent, and he often fights lazily no matter the opponent, a fact that sometimes leads to his defeat. Despite this, when he gets serious, Darlien is incredibly focused, perhaps too focused, leading to him being caught off guard by things that come from elsewhere.

Darlien is idealistic and caring for anyone who isn't Praelian, making actions based on morality, but also attempting to be pragmatic. Darlien's personal goal is to kill as many Praelians as possible, innocent or not, for what they did to his family, not considering Praelians people, despite being one himself. Darlien also never admits fault for any wrong action, instead blaming others rather than himself.

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Darlien is a talented swordsman and incredible mage. He's comparable to Gennio e'Dux in personal combat and is only getting stronger by the moment.

Other than that, Darlien is also skilled at tracking and archery, though he does not carry a bow.

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Age: 20
Place of Birth: Praelium
Likes: Anyone who isn't Praelian, being respected, his magical abilities, Honor, killing, burning.
Dislikes: Praelium, Praelians, the idea of gods.
Morals: MURDER EVERYTHING PRAELIAN

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Lord Pelionis, Advisory General.

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Pelionis is a Gnomish lord, and among the oldest and wisest gnomes. His possessions are on the outskirts of Oranth, from which he takes his last name. His lands involve a tavern and a few huts, with around fifty gnomes who work as brewers and fishermen. Pelionis received this land as a result of his position in the personal entourage of Nuncio e'Dux, current king Gennio's father.

As gnomes age quickly, the fact that Pelionis has survived as long as he has is quite exceptional. Pelionis attributes it to exercise and a good diet, but that doesn't stop witchcraft accusations, all of which Pelionis meets with confusion and astonishment.

Pelionis' life prior to his lordship is dry and uninteresting, born in Dux, moved to Oranth, joined the navy, showed talent, was promoted to generalship, became part of his king's circle, retired upon his death and re-entered the navy on a whim.

Gnomes give birth to litters of five children, and Pelionis as a result has fifteen children, he isn't pleased in the slightest. The last five were not intentional, but don't tell them that.

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Pelionis, as an elder gnome, is wrinkled and with spots on his lower arms. Gnomes' skin also grays as they age, and as a result Pelionis is a light gray from head to toe. His hair is wild and uncontrollable, and he has just stopped trying to make it look nice, instead wearing a wild mane that changes from day to day. He dresses in tight, sharp, tailored clothing, the only way his wealth truly shows. He is even shorter than the average gnome at a tiny two foot five inches, and his now adult children tower over him, most a full head taller.

Pelionis formerly wore a full beard, much like most of the other gnome lords in Benaduza, but in later years he has started to shave due to his belief that he would look smarter without it, he often reaches to stroke where his beard once was, only to touch air.

He's gaunt and with an elderly shriveling to every part of him, but he still stands upright and carries himself with pride, no matter what situation he finds himself in.



Pelionis was once a lawyer prior to joining the navy, and as a result is very persuasive and quite the wordsmith, able to talk his way out of quite a large number of situations. He was taught the basics in melee combat when he volunteered, but as he had bought his way into the officer corps, his training is both rusty and incredibly basic, and he would not fare well in a fight with a skilled opponent.

Pelionis is an advisory general for a reason, and has a talent for strategy both naval and land-based, but he commands from the back, and rarely ends up fighting.

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Pelionis is quiet, self-deprecating, and often befuddled by the situations he finds himself in, it's not that he's unintelligent, he just seems to have some sort of magnet that attracts oddities, not that he was going to complain, he's not a complainer, though he is snarky and prone to cracking wise.

Pelionis is a caring father, but he doesn't care much about anyone else, and is openly hostile to anyone who dares call him old. He has an aversion to change, and hates trying new things, as a result, he never learned the human languages, and speaks gnomish exclusively, though he is taking lessons on the king's orders. Pelionis is loyal and will not falter from his king's orders, no matter his own opinion on them, he does have some lines he refuses to cross, such as the killing of civilians or anything unable to defend itself.

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Age: 40
Likes: His family, his kingdom, working, money, people who leave him alone
Dislikes: Working, people who talk too much, not earning money, fighting.