I wasn't sure if these ideas I have for races and a country would work, so I'll put them here for you all to approve/disapprove. [hider=Races]Name: Svekkeren Homeland: The Far North of Aniyas Country(s): The Svekker-Vastermannen Commonwealth Common Physical Features: - Pale, almost alabaster skin. They can seem frightening to strangers due to their blood vessels being quite prominent - Hair colour ranges from a sandy brown to light blonde, bordering on white. An observant person would be able to tell the Svekkeren's heritage from that. The darker the hair colour, the more tribal blood they have. - Generally they stand anywhere between 1.65 meters to 1.85 meters tall. Svekkeren above 1.90 meters are considered to be unique. - Generally slim and slender build. Common Physiological Features: - Highly resistant to low temperatures Common Magical Features: - As a rule of thumb, Svekkerens are magically inept, but there are exceptions. Svekkeren magic users gravitate between focusing on Ice and Water - to make use of the vast abundance of both in the north - and fire - to provide a quick source of heat. Other: - On average, they are more serious than a Vastermannen, leading to plenty of jokes about how the Svekkerens are the heartless logical part of the Commonwealth. - They don't tan, they burn. Jokes about vampirism abound, though some people seriously believe that the myth of vampires may have come from ancient explorers making contact with tribes within Svekker region. Name: Vastermannen Homeland: The far north of Aniyas Country(s): The Svekker-Vastermannen Commonwealth Common Physical Features: - Similar to the Svekkerens, only that their skin tend to be of a darker hue. - Generally shorter that your average Svekkeren. - Hair colour covers a range similar to the Svekkeren, only difference is that one should not use a Vastermannen's hair colour to attempt to guess their heritage. They take offense to being mistaken for a Svekkeren. - Body hair is thicker than normal. At worst, it makes them look unshaven and unkempt. Common Physiological Features: - Highly resistant to low temperatures. Common Magical Features: - There are more Vastermannen magic users than Svekkeren magic users, but they are still a minority. They gravitate towards the same elements as a Svekkeren magic user. Other: - Generally friendlier than a Svekkeren. A common joke is that the Vastermannen is the dumb heart of the Svekker-Vastermannen Commonwealth.[/hider] [hider=Country]Name: The Svekker-Vastermannen Commonwealth (Svekkeren-Vastermannen Sarkildariket) Political System: Elective Monarchy, where the ruling monarch holds executive power. A common council is entrusted with voting in a new monarch when necessary. Council holds legislative power. Judicial power is controlled by independent system of courts within each state. Location: Far north of Aniyas History: The Svekker and Vasterman were once two separate northern tribes on extreme ends of northern Aniyas. The Svekker rose in the east while the Vasterman came into being in the west. During the early years, they were content with simply subjugating the minor tribes around them as they pursued a policy of rapid expansion. The scarcity of resources in the frozen north required it of them, and so it was only a matter of time before the two tribes would meet. While relations were initially cordial, a few border disagreements and skirmishes were all that were needed for all-out war to break out between them. Both sides fielded similar armies, and both sides had similarly adopted the martial cultures of the tribes they had conquered and forcibly assimilated into their fledgling empires. It was thus no surprise that the war became a war of stalemates, with neither side being able to achieve a decisive tactical or strategic victory against the other. Still, neither side was willing to back down. Northern pride simply would not allow for it. They would fight until one side was defeated or they had a very, very good reason to stop. That reason came in the form of a minor empire from the south seeking to expand northwards in early 210 E.A. By then, the Svekkern and Vastermannen tribes had been warring for a good sixty years and they had lost thousands of men. The only way they could put up any sort of defense against the invading empire was by working together and thus in mid 210 E.A, the Chiefs of the Svekkern and Vastermannen tribes met in a small ceremony to sign the Treaty of Skarsbo in a village that sat on the border between the two tribes. The combined Svekker-Vastermannen armies managed to crush the armies of the invading empire and they annexed the empire into Svekker-Vastermannen controlled territory in 212 E.A. From captures records, the Svekkern and Vastermannen tribes learned of the existence of other civilizations apart from their own. It was then did the idea of a combined Svekker and Vasterman nation become something other than a joke. The leaders of both sides knew that they would not survive for long on their own, and their recent war against the invading empire had shown them that a Svekker-Vastermannen union was viable. Thus, in 214 E.A, the Commonwealth Pact was signed, unifying the Svekker and Vastermannen tribes into a single nation. To simplify the matter of who would rule over the nation, it was decided that a council consisting of equal numbers of Svekker and Vasterman members would be given the power to elect the monarch from a pool of candidates. The monarch would then be granted close to absolute power over the nation for the duration of his life, or until he is deemed unfit to rule due to either illness or general incompetence. Faced with a growing Gowerian threat, it had only been a matter of time before the Commonwealth joined the Yaes Numir Seyur. The alliance suited the independent nature of the Commonwealth's constituent states, and the Commonwealth was more than capable of sending armies of men willing to fight and die for a chance at glory to defend against the invading Gowerians. Notes: - Aloof: They rarely bother with political intrigues, even within the Yaes Numir Seyur. Apart from war, the Commonwealth interacts only as much as it needs to with other nations. - Open: They welcome anyone who can tolerate the cold to live within the Commonwealth. They have the space to spare. - Militant: The Commonwealth boasts one of the most well-trained armies in the world. - Mining Industry: The Ice Flats of the north are surprisingly rich in precious and useful minerals - Agriculturally inept: The frozen north does not allow for substantial farming activities. Their diet consists mainly of fish, moss, deer, elk, and basically whatever they can hunt down. - Most of the population are of the Svekker or Vasterman ethnicity, but there are a myriad of northern ethnicities that are a significant minority within the Commonwealth.[/hider]