Since I like world building I added more trivia to the lore. [hider=Mirror Towers] Ancient technology left behind by the Heavenly Kingdom of antiquity. The Towers were built with the aid and permission of God, hence that they can never again be reconstructed in the absence of God. The towers absorb sunlight in its great mirrors, from which it can fire light beams. The Mirror Towers and ruins of Mirror Towers are scattered on the various islands throughout the Sea of Tears and serve as a barrier against Ostropathia, meant to keep the Divine Locust at bay -- should they make an attempt to cross the ocean to attack humanity on Visandza. Many of the towers are still functional. However they have largely fallen into disrepair from centuries of negligence. [/hider] [hider=Animal Heraldry] It has not been explicitly mentioned yet, but naturally the different factions each have their own heraldry to distinguish them by. Probably semi-important to know. [b]Chlotaringen[/b], after the Faramundian Dynasty, is represented by the Lion [b]Lampertei[/b], after the Alboinid Dynasty, is represented by the Black Bear [b]The Eodaen Tribes[/b] are represented by the Wyvern [b]The Viigoc Tribes[/b] (though they are divided and without a nation) is represented by the Mammoth, which was native to their lands of ancestry in the hyperborean domain of north Ostropathia [b]Baltia[/b] is represented by the Eagle [b]Syrome[/b] is represented by the Cobra [b]Amalia[/b] is represented by the Evening Star, the only nation that does not use an animal for heraldry [/hider] [hider=Human Population] The setting is, as you all know, set in the dark ages. Hence the population of Visandza is sparse. This is owed to the destruction of the Heavenly Kingdom and the Divine Locust that nearly wiped out humankind some 4 centuries ago. The humans alive today are descendants of the survivors, both indigenous to Visandza and refugees from Ostropathia like the Viigocs and many Celeseans. Humanity today consists of some 6 (conservative) to 7 (at most) million people. This affects the scale on which wars are fought. At one point a kingdom simply does not have the manpower to sustain prolonged all-out war. Most of Visandza consists of wildlands untouched by humans. Particularly for Chlotaringen; for as much land as they have laid claim to, most of it is virtually unpopulated to this day. For this period of time an army of 10.000 (like the one of King Cauroman) is considered enormous, as ordinary field armies, even royal ones, tend to comprise 2000 to 3000 men. Chlotaringen – the bulk of continental Visandza - has approx 3 million in population. The Amalian peninsula is a denser part of the world, divided by Lamperts in the north and Amalians in the south. There's some 1 to 1,5 million Lamperts and 500k Amalians. So up to 2 million people total in the peninsula. Eodaland has the lowest population of the established Kingdoms, with only some 300k of those squirrel lovers in existence. The Viigocs are the smallest tribe. Their population had been decimated during the migration from Ostropathia. There’s a total of some 100k Viigocs in existence, of which 20k are Tautovigocs (urban city dwellers of Tautom), 20k are Syrovigocs (integrated Celesean-Viigoc Islanders) and 60k are Baltavigocs, who have lived predominately in pocket communities at the eastern fringe territories of Baltia, and are a very rural group thereby. Due to their segregation, the Baltavigocs have retained most of their original tribal and barbarian characteristics lost unto the other Viigocs. Tautom City houses a tremendous population unlike seen anywhere in the world. It is Visandza’s sole sprawling megalopolis to remain in the style of antiquity, with a staggering population from 100k up to 200k people. Contrast this to Chlotaringen's capital of Aaixen, which has only roughly 10.000 inhabitants, and even that is considered a major city. The vast majority of people in the Barbarian Kingdoms live a rural lifestyle away from cities. The Syromean archipelago has an estimated 60k in population. For all their wealth and resources, the islander population supports not nearly enough manpower to draw an army from, therefore much of their military consists of foreign sellswords. --- Of note: The Chlotars aren't the same tribe but emerged as a confederacy of many different tribes and therefore comprise varying different cultures and Barbarian ethnic groups with their own dialects and sometimes distinct languages. Similarly goes for the Lamperts, Eodaens and Viigocs. In the case of the Chlotars, they are united only in piety and servitude to Godas. The original tribe of Chlotachar is only small and as a distinct identity from the other Chlotars largely died out (by the mandibles of the Divine Locust centuries ago). Einhard is one of the few who can boast descent from their lineage. With a population this sparse and the various difficulties deriving therefrom, why don’t rulers just press their population for a baby boom? Well, they do. But these are dark times, and infant mortality rates have always been rather high. Of any 10 given children only 3 or 4 or them grow up to adulthood. And once they are adult, the world is still pretty violent and unforgiving. Many of them do not get the chance to leave offspring of their own. Often entire family branches just go extinct. For the past centuries the growth of the population has increased only very slowly, and in parts remained more-or-less the same. [/hider] [hider=Non-humans creations, Here Be Monsters] On Visandza humans are not the sole inhabitants. Monsters truly exist, but are even more sparse than humans are. The Barbarian kingdoms refer to them as ‘the Darklings’. They are beings of the night, who lurk in the dark corners of the world where humans dare not tread.. Only at night do these monsters come out of their corners. It is for this reason that the humans of Visandza are wary of darkness, and wisely resort to travel only by day. The Darklings come in many forms, and often possess forms of supernatural powers not unlike the Human Godsplinters. Their powers are not understood, but some speculate that they too are splinters of God, perhaps in God’s attempt to rid himself of vice and evil. That evil was reborn in the mortal coil in the form of the Darklings. The only known monsters (as seen in IC) so far is the Shapeshifter demon from Nevelholt and the Nightbird from Crow Valley. Both of these attacks occurred when it was dark outside. You too are free to introduce a monster should it add substance to your IC. Dragons also exist, but they are not majestic creatures, but rather large, wingless and malevolent. [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/b005ad18-d143-4d86-a6d3-2b028071f958.png[/img][/center] [/hider] --A bit more trivial-- [hider=Ancient History: Chlotachar embracing God] In ancient times before memory, a Celesean cleric unwittingly trespassed on Chlotachar’s hunting grounds. Chlotachar’s men captured the interloper and brought him before their chieftain, who demanded to know the reason for the cleric's interference with his hunting. The cleric answered that he wasn't aware that he was trespassing. At this point, Chlotachar noticed that the cleric was Celesean, and he said that [i]"a dog was worth more than a Celesean."[/i] The cleric responded, [i]"Yes, if we had not faith in Godas, we should indeed be worse than dogs."[/i] Puzzled, Chlotachar ordered the cleric to explain [i]"Godas"[/i]. Up unto this point the hyperborean tribes were unaware of the concept of gods, their closest form of worship being the reverence of totem animals, woodland and ancestral spirits. On that day Pharamond obtained the first seed of knowledge of God, however still angry at the trespasser, he went on to mock the cleric. [i]‘’Your Godas does not ride the horse, wield the sword, or ride to protect our people as our ancestral spirits do.’’[/i] Declaring he had no need for a passive ‘God’. [i]‘’All the being and all deeds of your ancestors have their utmost origin in Godas.’’[/i] As Chlotachar perceived this remark as an attack on his ancestors, added to the cleric’s trespassing, severe punishment was upon him. Chlotachar would have the man killed. However a seed of doubt was planted, and instead he opted to make him his thrall – a slave. An appropriate punishment while also an excuse to keep the cleric and his esoteric knowledge close by. Chlotachar understood him to be a sage. That night – it was said -- Chlotachar’s deceased mother appeared to him in a dream. She told him that she was not his mother, but one of the faces of God. While the mother begets the children of the world, God is the Mastery, and verily The Creation Process itself. At this point Chlotachar began to reconsider the words of the enthralled sage. He understood that he serves the Originator of divinity directly, instead of through ancestral placeholders as the hyperboreans do. An unspecified time thereafter, Chlotachar was said to have embraced God and introduced God-worship to the tribes, whom his tribe dubbed Godas. The Celesean Cleric was released from thralldom, yet given freedom, he opted to remain as Chlotachar’s willing thrall. [/hider]