Name of the Kingdom: Kingdom Of Kaarelian
Current Ruler: King Malthe Uwe Regenbogen
![enter image description here](http://www.gwleibniz.com/emp_otto_iv/images/emp_otto_iv.jpg "enter image title here")
Dynasty: Regenbogen
Flag: ![enter image description here](http://myblazon.com/api/images/20150116/1c8f871f-0fc7-4ee5-a9e4-e29289cb1461? "enter image title here")
History: The Modern day Kingdom of Kaarelian was, as current historians remember it, a land of squabbling tribes, various religions, and cultures. After many centuries of this conflict in both physical violence and cultural clashes, the tribal differences in culture were slowly eroded as they became similar; out of this, the religions began to come together, and formed a faith called, "Liminism." All seemed well until a man by the name of Chinweuba from Ibali'mma espoused a new faith. One distinct from the local religion and his former faith. Chinweuba denounced Liminism as being a "Pathway to the abyss," and described a place far beyond the aforementioned abyss. It was a spiritual paradise, something that the people of this world couldn't even fathom. "The Exalted Citadel," or "Paradise" as it would be called in simple terms. How could they gain access to such a place? Follow Chinweuba's one God. He gained many followers, and the new religion was called Chinweubaism. It would forever change the current day kingdom's culture.
The priests of Liminism responded to Chinweuba's words with violence and a threat of torture and death. The holy texts of the religion say that Chinweuba received a silver halberd from God, and that he proceeded to kill the priests in a "Righteous fury." Such stories were written in the holy texts by the Chinweubaist priests, along with many others. Chinweubaism dominated the area, and it was one of the only sources of unity that it had. For Kaarelian was a divided land. Various Counts, Dukes, and petty Kings had power. Their culture and religion was the same, but the age old problems of greed and lust for power were common. Feuds could last for decades, and rulers almost never agreed. Those who tried to unify Kaarelian tended to be in power for very short periods of time, or were killed outright. Eventually, Kaarelian was so weak that a young count by the name of Malthe Uwe Regenbogen took power with the use of his words. Travelling across the pillaged countryside of the various realms, and sending letters to the weary Lords of the land, he gathered a large following.
Malthe promised a good sum of autonomy for his possible vassals, and only mild centralization. He promised the peasants a stop to the pillaging they had suffered for so long, and he promised wealth for the merchants. With these promises, a few bribes, and some strategic assassinations, the Count arose in the Capital's Cathedral to become king. The first king of Kaarelian. Malthe poured money into infrastructure, schools, rebuilding efforts, and secretly, the military. All save for his navy; he would leave such things to the merchants. Although war became reviled for a time, the now middle-aged King Malthe gave a speech to his vassals. He described how the world lived in ignorance and savagery, and how only the Kaarelians could save them; conquest. Conquest and missionaries...
The young king funded the arts for a period of a few years, and indeed mission trips to the "Heathen lands." Though with all his spending, he was given the option of disbanding the military, or stop the funding of such 'frivolities.' He stopped funding the arts. Malthe waited for quite some time so that the royal treasury could recover; years, it turned out. With Malthe having his first few grey hairs and the taste of middle-age, he decided that the economy had recovered. That his people were ready for a prolonged conquest against the heathen, and that the Kaarelian culture would spread, that it would thrive. That their religion would be in every land. So King Malthe built up his army, waiting for the day he could start this war.
Traits: Honorable folk, Beloved by the people, Friends with the nobles, Wondrous beauty, Developed infrastructure, Knowledge of war, Good equipment, Sieging genius, Agriculture, Foraging
Flaws: Terrible boats, Not a flawless family 2
Claim on the map:
![enter image description here](http://s16.postimg.org/vump4mjn9/Kingdom1.png "enter image title here")
The indigo colored area is the potential territory of the kingdom.
Additional things to fill in: Kaarelian culture strongly revolves around Chinweubaism and its tenents. It holds an important part in the Kingdom's history. The tenents are written in a religious book called, "The Ukweli." Which was written down by Chinweuba's followers after he had killed the Liminist priests. The tenents are as follows. 1. Worship the one true God and none other 2. Do not steal 3. Do not kill unjustly 4. Keep that which is holy, holy 5. Be kind as much as possible 6. Harbor no hatred 7. Do not lie 8. Do not covet...
The religion is headed by three men called the, "Vaizers," meaning "Spiritual father." The traditional dress would be a white robe, a silver gilded omophorion, and a staff with the emblem of an open book, referring to the holy texts of the religion. The men known as Vaizers are chosen by the former Vaizers directly, and each province has a "Lesser Vaizer." Followed by the priests. The Chinweubaist Church is very powerful in Kaarelian, and while the three Vaizers try to enforce the morality of the religion, it is sometimes ignored.
The corpse of Chinweuba is kept in an old tomb behind the altar of the Capital's Cathedral; called, "Mankind's hope." The Cathedral is home to all three Vaizers, and is very large, very beautiful, and has a number of artworks in its possession. The bell tower is home to dozens of smaller bells, and two large ones named, "Henrietta," and "Helga," respectively. The Cathedral itself functions as it would; worship services are held, Chinweuba's teachings are emphasized, and people come to gawk and stare at the icons and statues of various leaders and saints in the church.
Relics are held in high esteem, and fraudulent relics were often sold before Malthe took power. When the King did take power, he abolished the trade, and sent the men who distributed the items to the stocks. Chinweuba's silver halberd has long been lost to history, along with other relics. Efforts to reclaim them have come in full swing by some nobles, but little has been found. The Chinweubaist church has established a calendar based off of the year when Chinweuba first arrived in Kaarelian. To Kaarelians, it is the year 497 of Truth.
The language would be Germanic, with a few words similar to that of West African cultures, considering the early influence of Chinweuba. Hounds are a sign of status, as are dogs in general. There are many stories and folktales about the wilderness, the mountains, and the sea. Tales of witches, goblins, and other such things are regular among the peasantry. Kaarelians tend to have a distrust of large bodies of water. A common legend involves a monstrous fish that swallows boats in one gulp, shoots blood from its eye, and hates the land and all its creatures with a burning passion.
Because of stories like this, fishing is rare, and shipments of valuable materials over the sea are even rarer. Regardless, the feudal government has tried to get Kaarelian peasants to be more courageous when it comes to the ocean. Sometimes with success, many times without. Serious insults are usually followed by the 'gift' of a small fish stuffed with a rotten potato. This roughly translates to, "You are rotten on the inside." Similar items are received in other cases, but the aforementioned remains the most popular.
Three major holidays are observed, with a host of minor ones. "Chinweuba's Arrival," In which a play is done in the town square involving the event, and the killing of the Liminist priests. A feast is held afterward, followed by a religious service. "Foreigner day," In which foreigners are made fun of for just about everything. It's a lighthearted day, and no animosity is meant by it. Usually. "Night of Lights," Wherein people light decorative candles through the night and pray for the dead, the dying, and the suffering. People fast, and head to church for more prayer. The night ends with a procession through the town involving singing, chants, and bell ringing from the nearest church.
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Couldn't find a guide for the forum code, so I just copy/pasted the post from the interest check to here. I hope this is acceptable! Also, if anyone could point me to a guide for that, I'd be very grateful.