History:_________ __ __ _ _
Four hundred years ago, by the reckoning of learned men, lived the most powerful magic user of all time: the legendary Fradje Ironshaper. We can gather from Avincian texts and modern deduction, that he was a prodigious mooncaster, with abilities exceeding anyone alive in this day. Through force of will and arms, he unified the Eskandr tribes and sacked the eternal city of Avince, capital of the Empire, bringing his people great wealth, respect, and plunder. It is said that he lay with ten thousand women and some men as well and that fully one of every twenty Eskandr can claim ancestry from him, including much of the nobility. Of course, the moment he was finally called to the Visitor's table - for not even he could resist that call - there was no other figure who could hope to hold his empire together.
The Avincians rebounded, thanks to the efforts of Macian III, and their empire lasted, against all odds, for another 250 years until its final collapse at the hands of its own maltreated vassals. The Eskandr people retreated south of the Asquelle and Meine Rivers and bided their time. They remained fierce and feared and Eskand itself, along with the two lesser Eskandr kingdoms of Drudgunze and Holmenbahn bullied the North. The Northerners were a disaster: their kingdoms, duchies, and counties small, weak, and feuding, and they could not fight back. Soon, they did not even fight each other. They settled down and produced: works of literature and theology, fine jewellery and garments, delicious and exotic foods and spices that the Eskandr could not hope to derive from their cold and wild lands.
The Northerners paid their tribute, and they sent delegations with it each time: larger and more richly appointed delegations. These people had names attached to them that weren't their own names, like Somnians, Stresians, Dordians, and Hundrians. They met with Eskandr kings and spoke with them. They showered the kings with gifts. The kings forgot the Gods. They traded Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, and Visitor for Ipte, Chune, Oraphe, Echeran, and Dami. They decreed that their people should do the same. The Drudgunzeans bowed to the will of their kings - not all of them, and not all at once, but they did. In Holmenbahn, the people rose, but so did the king's defenders. East and west were torn asunder: two kingdoms forever more. But in Eskand itself, the proud Jarls and Aerchons put the king's head on a pike for his blasphemy and marched North. The worshipers of the false Gods recanted or burned. It had been many years since a great Eskandr horde marched north, and many things had changed, but there was nothing else that could be done that would satisfy the Gods or, truly, the people.
It is this very army - a great heathen army under Hrothgar the Black - that now stands at the precipice of Parrence, its violence spilling across the borders, its bloodlust far from sated after in turns pacifying and plowing through its Drudgunzean former kinsmen. Its leaders claim that a different sort of war has been waged against them and they are here to ensure that it never happens again. Against such an uncompromising threat, Arcel of Parrence, shield of Quentendom, has no choice but to fight.
Eskandr_________ __ __ _ _
Overview: Eskandr hail from the cold and unforgiving lands to the south. Gradually, through exploration, conquest, and settlement, they have worked their way up the continent and make periodic raids deep into Quentic lands. A rugged and hardy people, Eskandr tend to be tall and fair, possessed of a warlike nature and vitality. Proud, temperamental, and unquenchably vain, they bathe and groom with startling regularity. These people keep five gods of their own - Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, and Visitor - and most refuse to hear of any others.
In their homelands, they ply the meager soil with root vegetables and maintain vast herds of sheep and goats. They survive on these and supplement their diets with rabbit, grouse, and cheeses. They gather herbs in the short summers, hunt the roving herds of mammoth that call the southern steppes their home, and take fish from the endless bounty of the sea. Eskandr prefer to live communally in fortified longhouses, guarding against raid, weather, and beast. Indeed, their lands are home to some of the most ferocious creatures known to study, including the great black dragons of the volcanic mountain ranges.
In battle, Eskandr are fearless and underhanded, seeking all and any advantage they can muster over their foes. The men and the women alike fight, though the former are more commonly in the press of shield walls whilst the latter often feature as skirmishers, spies, and scouts. None are to be underestimated. They are audacious in the extreme and well versed in The Gift, with many possessing at least a rudimentary knowledge of all five branches of magic. These, they will employ to augment their bodies and strikes, fell enemies from afar, and enhance their vitality. An Eskandr warrior will fight to the very last breath so that he or she may gain a place close to the head of the Visitor's table in Grønhal (the Green Hall).
In general, their society is much enamoured with the notion of legacy. A man will be judged by the Father and Visitor on his achievements in battle and the fairness of his dealings with others. There is no greater honour than to perish bravely in combat and such warriors will earn for themselves an exalted place at the great table of Grønhal. A woman will find herself subject to the Mother's and the Visitor's judgment by much the same metrics but, to a limited extent, also those of her sons and daughters. For her, it is imperative to survive battle so that she may be there to raise them and impart her guidance. Thus, there is a web of responsibility, enforced by religious belief, that binds people together and encourages behaviours that will benefit society.
Major Cities and Regions: Farthang, Stormhavn, Gronmark, Astland, Hegelo, Altberg.
Common Heraldic Symbols: Bear, Wolf, Mammoth, Dragon, Owl, Serpent, Trident, Hammer, Oak Tree, Volcano.
Drudguzeans_________ __ __ _ _
Overview: Drudgunzeans are people of the midland plains and forests. Originally a subset of the Eskandr, they displaced the original inhabitants of the lands they now call home over two centuries ago. In the much more forgiving climate, they have adapted and flourished, growing new crops and developing new tastes that their forbears could never have imagined. Intermediaries between their Eskandr brethren and the myriad peoples of Parrence and the Ensollian coasts, they are in the process of forging a bold new identity.
Over the past century, most Drudgunzeans have made the decision to forsake their ancient heathen ways and accept into their lives the light of the Quentic Faith. A proud warrior people, they have become increasingly known their shrewd and calculating nature of late. Old ties of loyalty - once sacred in Drudgunze - have been tested by their eagerness to benefit from both their northern and southern neighbours.
This canny eye for self-advancement has ever more greatly become a hallmark of their emerging culture. Drudgunzeans are nothing if not keen, diligent, and efficient. Yet, when their blood can be coaxed to run hot, their fury is truly a sight to behold and their armies something to cow even the mightiest of nations. Some say that they combine the ferocity of their Eskandr ancestors with the discipline of their ancient Avincian foes.
Constant innovators and master metalworkers, they create for more than mere function: the war masks of nobility and particularly renowned Sturmknecht (Stormcniht) are works of art that speak to the glories earned by their bearers. They are also diliggent in the use of magic, employing it in a myriad of workmanlike ways and also taking great pains to preserve its teachings through the writings of a new and invigorated clergy of wizard-priests. Though generally less concerned with beautification than their Parrench neighbours, Drudgunzean monks produce gorgeous illuminated manuscripts and the people at large are enthusiastic consumers of northern music, culture, and tapestry.
Major Cities and Regions: Albesas, Meckelen, Salterberg, Fenske, Einderhal, Endburgh, Harrowende.
Common Heraldic Symbols: Dragon, (Black) Eagle, Wolf, Stag, Crocodile, Sickle, Stars, Lightning Bolt, Castle.
Parrench_________ __ __ _ _
Overview: There has never been a people, in the known history of Constantia, so blessed and so cursed at once as the Parrench. For millennia, their rich green lands have been the envy of all others, and the fortunes of this nation have ebbed and flowed accordingly. Most of all, however, the Parrench have grown. They are numerous beyond all others, playful and puckish, clever and creative, hard working and relentlessly determined. These people squeeze everything that they can out of often short and brutal lives. They laugh and cry both in great measure. They honour their dead but then move on. They build great monuments but are not slaves to their pasts. The one thing that does not seem to resist the is the soil. Greatly blessed by Oraff is the land, and they can grow most anything on it in abundance.
Indeed, the cuisine of Parrence is varied and their trade flourishing. Increasingly, under the banner of young King Arcel and his father Rouis, these people have started to emerge from the darkness and chaos following the collapse of the empire. Their art and music fuse those of their tribal ancestors, their former Avincian overlords, and many exotic cultures from around the Ensollian Sea into something new and exciting. Much of this is made for secular purposes, but the Parrench people, too, are devout and keep the gods. Their architects quarry the stones of the Echamps Plateau to build great cathedrals that soar into the subtropical sun in stunning new styles or Retesque and Balthazarene.
Yet, war is a shadow that constantly stalks this green land. As duchies, kingdoms, and counties flourish, their lords grow grasping and ambitious. They train their sons, daughters, and loyal retainers in the magics of Old Avince, otherwise lost, and send them to fight. The magics of the Pentad are terrifying when used against human flesh. Those without the Gift find themselves fodder for those with, and a social order begins to emerge in greater certainty.
The Parrench are not natural warriors, but like all endeavours that they set their minds and the great mass of their numbers towards, they have molded themselves into fine fighters: fiery yet disciplined, iron-willed and steel-armoured. From hundreds of smithies across the realm have emerged the arms and armour necessary to equip a Grand Armee capable of taking on the Eskandr and, if necessary, the Drudgunzeans. This collective will is something new for the proudly individualistic and independent Parrench. They have a natural stubbornness and irascible temperament that drives them always to fight for what they value, even against seemingly insurmountable odds. Now, with their various feuding realms having been forged uneasily into one, they are ready to make their stand: for their futures, for their pride, for Parrence!
Major Cities and Regions: Solenne, Nazaire, Loris, Gaen, Relouse, Chirence, Eux-en-Vitroux, Lac Ste. Guillaume.
Common Heraldic Symbols: Wolf, Falcon, Leopard, Snapping Turtle, Rabbit, Hound, Sun, Moon, Crown, Unicorn.
