[center] [img=http://i.imgur.com/Lf6wo4m.jpg] [b]Name[/b] Principality of Hanartha [b]Capital[/b] Ulzschath [b]Other Major Settlements[/b] Azan Rholyu [b]Population[/b] 775,000 [b]Races[/b] Hanarth Elves - 89% Other - 11% [b]Culture[/b] The people of Hanartha are an ancient and fiercely independent people; throughout their entire history they have never bowed to a Zaoth, an outsider. As a result they tend to be mistrusting of outsiders, though this view isn't uniform throughout the Principality. An outsider may have no problem with Hanarth born and raised in one of the major cities where one can find visitors from other lands, but their reception in a smaller and more isolated settlement would be cold if not downright hostile. But despite these views Hanartha does not try to isolate itself from the outside world and outsiders are allowed to travel anywhere in the country they desire. The religion of the Hanarth is not an organized one. Though there are beliefs standardized across all of Hanartha, their religion has no leader or hierarchy. In fact, the religion completely lacks clergy of any form. The religion is based around the worship and veneration of the Nameless Gods, the innumerable, nameless, unseen, and formless spirits that the Hanarth believe to inhabit the world alongside mortals. The temples of the Nameless Gods take many forms, from great stone temples to forest groves. However, all temples share one thing in common: the Faceless Pillars. These are tall four-sided pillars with no markings on them whatsoever, their lack of identifying features reflecting the nameless and formless state of the Nameless Gods. When it comes to marriage, the Hanarth have no concept of it. Instead, Hanarth men and woman engage in consensual relationships that can end at any point in time, and of which any individual can have as many as they desire. It is because of this making determining paternity difficult, as well as the Hanarth believing that since children are carried in the woman's womb they thus have a stronger blood connection to the mother, that lineage is determined matrilinearly. Men are not expected to help raise their children, though that is not to say that none do. However, the Hanarth live together with their extended family and a man [i]is[/i] expected to help care for his nieces and nephews. [b]Crimes[/b] Hanartha has a strictly defined legal code of what is and is not legal, as well as the punishments for certain transgressions. In fact, complete copies of the code can be found carved into obelisks in all major Hanarth settlements in addition to fragments carved into smaller obelisks all over the Principality. When one is accused of a crime they are taken before a judge, who is appointed by the local governor, for trial. If they are found guilty, they are punished as the Hanarth Code says. In addition, any judge who is discovered to have come to an incorrect decision is punished as the wrongly convicted party was, and forever stripped of the position of judge (assuming, of course, that they aren't put to death). This legal code is not, however, an immutable and unchanging thing. Several time over the course of history the Code has been altered, though the heart of the Code has remained the same. [b]Government Type[/b] Monarchy The Grand Prince is the absolute ruler of Hanartha, though while the title is hereditary the Grand Prince's children are not heir. Due to the Hanarth tracing ancestry via the female line the title is inherited by one of the Grand Prince's nephews, usually the eldest nephew or the eldest son of the Grand Prince's eldest sister. The Grand prince exercises complete control over the nation, though he appoints governors to rule over regions of the Principality in his stead. However, these positions are not hereditary and do not pass to the governor's nephew upon his death. Instead the Grand Prince appoints a new governor, though it is not unheard of for him to appoint a nephew or other male relative of the previous governor to the position. [b]People in Power[/b] Grand Prince Napizzi III Alar of House Byakha [b]Industry[/b] Hanarth agriculture is based predominantly around the cultivation of grains and livestock. However, most of the foodstuffs produced in Hanartha are used to feed the Hanarth people, with very little of it being traded outside the Principality. Mining is a major industry in the foothills in the south of the country, with the major products being iron, silver, and jade. In addition, the lumber industry is rather major due to the abundance of tress in the forests of Hanartha. Taxes are collected directly by local governors, however their superiors set specific amount that must be collected each quarter, with the overall amount being set by the Grand Prince. [b]Military[/b] Hanartha has only a very small standing army of a few thousand, which is generally used as the Guard for major settlements. Instead, in time of war the Grand Prince will call upon the Hanarth people to provide a certain amount of men per village to serve in the military. These levies are required to provide their own arms and armour, and as a result most are poorly equipped. Most are equipped with axes, spears, or bows and armoured with leather or hide if anything at all. However, the wealthier families are not exempt from the conscription and they can afford better arms and armour for those they send into battle. And it is often from these families that the commanders of the military forces are drawn. [b]Landscape/Terrain[/b] The twin peninsulas of Hanartha are for the most part covered in temperate forests with the occasional swamp or wetland along the coastline. The land itself is mostly flat, though it becomes hillier the farther one travels south until it eventually becomes the mountain ranges south of Hanartha. The islands within Hanartha are much the same as the mainland. [b]History[/b] The Hanarth as a people are ancient, having inhabited the region since before recorded time. However, a united Hanartha state is rather recent in the grand scheme of things, having only been found a thousand years ago. Before that the peninsulas were a mess of independent principalities, all competing for power and prestige. However, the closest any ever got to uniting the two peninsulas was taking control of a single peninsula. However, they would inevitable end up breaking apart once more. This would all change in what is known as the Union War. A thousand years ago what is currently Hanartha was divided between 3 separate Principalities. The Grand Prince of Bhanil ruled the Western Peninsula, the Grand Prince of Arlachak ruled the Eastern Peninsula, and the Grand Prince of Cthatega ruled the islands spread throughout the bay in between. It was the ambitions of Arlachak's Grand Prince that set the chain of events in motion that would result in the formation of Hanartha. Arlachak began preparations for an invasion of Bhanil early in the years, creating a great fleet to sail across the bay and land before Bhanil's Grand Prince could retaliate. However, Arlachak's Grand Prince made one fatal error; he offered Cthatega's Grand Prince the option of peacefully swearing fealty and in return his islands would be kept unharmed and Cthatega would be governed by his descendants. The Grand Prince of Cthatega agreed, but he secretly sent word westwards to Bhanil of the attack. What Arlachak's armies landed to find was not an unprepared land, but a land with its levies raised and prepared for war. As a result, what should've been a short and easy war instead turned into a long, drawn-out affair as the two armies battled across Bhanil, with neither gaining a decisive advantage over the other. But it was then that the Grand Prince of Cthatega came to the Grand Prince of Bhanil with an offer, which he readily accepted. It was in the next battle that the Grand Prince of Arlachak was slain, a spear from one of Cthatega's warrior through his chest. The disarray caused by the death of their leader combined with the small (but still sizable) contigent of Cthatega warriors resulted in Arlachak's army being forced into a full route. Soon after word of this defeat and the Grand Prince's death spread; the armies of Bhanil pushed on with renewed vigour at the good news, while the morale of Arlachak's forces plummeted. It wasn't long before they were suing for peace; Arlachak's armies would leave Bhanil and pay a great amount to Bhanil's Grand Prince. But Cthatega's Grand Prince convinced the Grand Prince of Bhanil to reject the offer, and instead take Arlachak's late Grand Prince's ambitions for himself. It was short work to finish up what remained of Arlachak's armies, and many of them simply surrendered. Thankfully the great fleet Arlachak had built still stood, as Arlachak's Grand Prince had given explicit orders not to destroy it, confident that he was in his victory that he thought of the fleet being turned against him had never even entered his mind. And so Bhanil's armies sailed across the bay to Arlachak in the same boats Arlachak's armies had sailed over in. But they never reached Arlachak. When the fleet stopped in Cthatega's capital for resupply, Bhanil's Grand Prince was found murdered in his bed and his fleet set ablaze. Or rather, the fleet containing Bhanil's soldiers were set ablaze; those transporting the men of Cthatega were completely untouched. Those few Bhanil men who remained were rounded up by the Grand Prince of Cthatega and forced to bend their knees to him, but not as Grand Prince of Cthatega. But as Grand Prince of all Hanartha. With their armies destroyed, Bhanil and Arlachak stood little chance against the new Grand Prince of Hanartha. He quickly took their capitals and razed them to the ground, before declaring his intent to build a new capital in the western isles of the bay. And so it was that Hanartha came into being thanks to the treachery of Grand Prince Uradal Alugal. His rule was not an easy one, however, as there were man who did not wish to be lorded over by such a man. And in addition, Uradal Alugal was a harsh man to those he considered enemies. Not long into his reign he faced a rebellion that his armies managed to put down. The leaders of the rebellion were strung up along what remained of the former capitals of Bhanil and Arlachak, along with many of the corpses of rebels burning to death beneath them. However, his reign was a long one and eventually the principality grew richer and more prosperous under unified rule. There still those unhappy with the situation, but dissension became less widespread among the commonfolk and they were the ones who composed the bulk of most armies. Throughout the last thousand years, the principality has endured. Though times have not always been easy the royal House has never been overthrown, though there have been succession crises. Even ones in which the ruling Grand Prince was toppled and replaced. Hanartha has weathered plague and famine, even open revolt. But Hanartha still endured, and many believe it will continue to endure until the end of days. ------- [b]Name[/b] Hanarth Elves [b]Appearance[/b] The Elves of Hanartha are slightly taller than most humans, with the men averaging 6 feet in height and with the woman being slightly shorter. The race also tends to have pale and freckled skin, alongside dark, thick hair. Their eyes tend to be brown or hazel in colour, though green is common as well. [b]Natural Abilities[/b] There is very little to differentiate them from humans as a race aside from having a keener sense of hearing. [b]Lifespan[/b] 200 years maximum (100-150 on average) [b]Homeland[/b] Hanartha [/center]