[b]Country Name:[/b] Dominion of Ordov
[b]Government:[/b] De Jure Constitutional Feudal Monarchy, De Facto Theocratic Dictatorship
[b]Ruler:[/b] Karnak del'Vemeron is the Tia'Gevor, or high king, of the Dominion. However, the sixteen year-old boy is known to be a puppet of Urrag vel'Meskemos, Grand Marshall of the Dominion Legion. He is assisted by the Council, which consists of the nine Marshalls (All appointed by the Grand Marshall or the Tausar'Luysi), the Grand Admiral and the Keeper of the Keys (the royal treasurer and accounts keeper).
[b]Location:[/b] Northern Region 5. The western half of the large river valley, largely encompassing the major river delta, and some of the foothills to the north and south of it. Ordovin call this the Vale of Ordov, or the Ord'Hyryyn.
[b]Capital City:[/b] Damarskan
[b]Language:[/b] Ordovin
[b]Species:[/b] Human
[b]Population:[/b] 4,020,320

[b]The Council[/b]

Tia'Gevor Karnak del'Vemeron
Grand Marshall Urrag vel'Meskemos
Grand Admiral Martiros vel'Kasparov
Keeper of the Keys Malek ne'Torem
Marshall Andros vel'Orbansk
Marshall Kas vo'Eadwyn
Marshall Reichyn ne'Skamos
Marshall Revek ne'Hulik
Marshall Jaesyn ne'Parajos
Marshall Tadeos ne'Sasuni
Marshall Ishkhan ne'Bedros
Marshall Karo ne'Krikorian
Marshall Haykaser ne'Urfalos

Each Marshall receives a single vote, save Andros and Kas, who each get two. The Keeper of the Keys and the Grand Admiral get three, and the Grand Marshall has five. The Tia'Gevor gets seven, but almost always votes in the Grand Marshall's favor.

[b]History[/b]

The tribes of Ordov rose to power some three thousand years ago in the verdant river deltas and valleys of the northern Eastern Hill Region. Organized in to clans with familial and religious ties, these tribes laid claim to large swaths of territory for hunting, grazing, and foraging purposes, fiercely raiding over-ambitious neighbors. On the coasts of the Great Lake and the Western Ocean the tribes became more sedentary, the ghekhavs of these tribes building crude stone and wood fortifications. As the tribesfolk became more numerous and spread out, the Ordovin were somewhat forced in to a more agrarian life-style. Barges and river galleys plied the rivers and lakes, and they served as adept middle-men with neighboring nations. They made war on each other when times were lean and their neighbors were weak, or traded when the harvest had been plentiful and warfare was less certain. Eventually, the greatest of the ghekhav named themselves the bardzr'ghekhav and raised great strongholds at the most important fords and valleys so as to control trade and travel in Ordov.

The Gevor of Ordov formed a council at the city of Damarskan to resolve issues between clans and to discuss the betterment of Ordovin society in general. This led to creation of the House of Lords, where the thirteen Great Families set down the ancient laws of Ordov. With this unit, Ordov finally saw proper infrastructure; broad highways connected its fledgling cities and towns where rivers could not reach, castles and towers protected its borders, and schools, hospitals, and foundries sprung up in Ordovin settlements. Across the way from the House of Lords was the Temple of Light, where the priestesses of the Tausar'Luysi administered the ancient truths and dispensed healing, wisdom, and justice to all those who accepted their ways, though at the time it had not become the state religion.

Eventually, a shadow rose in the south, a power to rival that of a united Ordov. The armies of the Vydari -- merciless and blood-thirsty goblinkin, demon-worshippers and depraved warriors all -- marched against the Gevor. The clans of Ordov assembled a ragged and unruly host of tribal levies and household fighters, many of them suspicious of each other or harboring ancient grudges. Before they even arrived on the frontlines to fight the Vydari, the armies were falling apart, each general assuming he had the right way of leading, and even sometimes fighting eachother. They faced many bloody defeats before even managing to slightly slow down the goblin advance. Morale was low, and many even wanted to bow down and become slaves of the Vydari just so that they might live.

The most successful of these generals, Bardzr'Ghekhav Urrag vel'Meskemos, turned his battered armies around and marched home. Others demanded his intentions, even as the Vydari fell on his beleaguered comrades and put them to the sword. His forces arrived at Damarskan, and he ordered the Council to allow him inside so that he might defend his city from the Vydari; their hordes harrassed his fellow generals and their armies, or was left of them, and were days away from the capital. Fretful but suspicious, the Gevor families allowed his army in. Urrag and his retinue of veteran warriors strode in to the House of Lords. The Families berated him, bemoaning their fate and blaming the loss of Ordov on his cowardice. The Bardzr'Ghekhav calmly drew his sword, and his warriors began to butcher the Thirtreen Families.

Most of their guards away fighting on the frontlines, or quieting the slowly growing rebellion in the city streets, few of the Gevor or their kin were able to survive the Purge. The steps of the House of Lords ran red with blood, and butched, naked bodies were flung from the windows. All but one of the families were massacred, root and stem, and of this family, only the children were spared. Urrag placed a gory crown of steel on the oldest boy's head and proclaimed him the Tia'Gevor, the high king, of Ordov. The priestesses of the Tausar'Luysi backed his claim and pronounced that the Light shone through the child, and would banish the coming darkness. Desperate and afraid, the people of Damarskan rallied behind Urrag. With their support, and that of the secret, private army of the church, was able to break the Vydari horde on the walls of Damarskan. Emboldened, the surviving armies of the other generals crept out of hiding and hounded the fleeing monsters in to the wilds, slaughtering the majority of them.

Over the next few years, the Tausar'Luysi's warriors and the army of Urrag vel'Meskemos rode around the countryside, destroying the clans who would not bow down to the new order, and slaughtering those shamans and druids who would not personally come to the Temple of Light and bow down, forsaking their "demon spirits" and accepting the Light. Most of the Bardzr'Ghekhav capitulated peacefully rather than see Ordov riven by more war, and those that fought could not last for long when their own warriors were turning against them left and right. In six years, the Dominion of Ordov rose from the ashes as one nation, like a thousand daggers tempered in to one shining sword. Today, scholars and conspiracists whisper that Urrag funded and incited the Vydari invasion so as to create a situation in which the people of Ordov would quickly rally behind him, but such rabble-rousers dissapear quickly or swiftly change their minds.

[b]Description[/b]

Ordov is a sprawling empire, once a collection of petty tribal kingdoms and city-states ravaged by war, monstrous invasion, and a horrifying purge by a brutal dictator. Its people are fierce warriors and canny traders, exploring freely along the highways of earth and water. While tied to the land by tradition, Ordovin cities grow every day and ring with the sounds of hammer and saw as a medieval industrial revolution feverishly grips the country. The Dominion has prospered by ambitious economic and military expansion, picking on weaker neighbors and cozying up with ones of equal or greater strength, hiring out its young sons and daughters to serve as mercenaries to help weaken other powers.

The average Ordovin is a farmer or fisherman. He (Or she) lives in a large manorial estate, usually a rambling, brightly painted collection of buildings on a river or lakefront, often built partially over the water on stilts. They live with an extended family of about dozen people, who tend the fields or cast nets and lines out on the water from small green and purple-painted boats. Fertile volcanic soil allows cultivation of wheat and barley as well as pasturage for sheep, goat, and horses. With the help of irrigation, figs, pomegranates, apricots and olives are also grown on the west coast, with peaches and walnuts being more common in the central valley or in the eastern valleys. Each member of the family above the age of fourteen is required to train fourteen hours a week for the war-levy, with axe, bow, and spear -- all of these weapons can be found in the average Ordovin home.

Ordovin people stand tall, with skin the color of honey and dark brown or burnt orange hair. Their eyes are usually green or blue, with the folk dwelling in the east tending towards grey-blue. Most Ordovin are leanly muscular and well-built; archery, spear-throwing, and foot- and water-races are popular past-times, among every social class of the Dominion. Only ranchers and the nobility ride with any regularity, and most travel is done along the great rivers and streams running through the Vale of Ordov. The most popular garment is a simple, loose vest cinched at the waist with a braided belt and pair of baggy trousers, either tucked into knee-high leather boots or rolled up to the knee and worn with sandals. During holidays and festivals, this outfit is augmented by a scarf, shawl, mantle, or cloak, often in clashing colors with stripes and other simple geometrical shapes. Orange, purple, blue, and green are popular colors.

When not tending the fields and rivers or training for war, Ordovin life is very idyllic. Pleasure barges ply the heavily populated river, their rigging glowing with strings of colored lamps, and their decks echo with the music of dulcimer, hand drum, lute, and occasionally the violin or flute. These pleasure barges function as a mix of tavern, theater, and brothel, and even sell minor trinkets and important odds and ends, such as salt and needles and bits of lace and velvet. Popular drinks include cognac, whiskey, bitter stout, and mead flavored with peaches and pomegranates, though the tenets of the Path of Enlightenment mean that drinking to excess is rare. Most prostitutes are women approved of by the Tausar'Luysi, and bear a special token proclaiming their cleanliness; those that do not bear this token may find getting clients difficult. Drugs like opium are strictly forbidden, by the laws of Ordov and the tenets of the Path. Anything that permanently damages the mind or body is seen of as evil, a way for demons to enter and corrupt the weakened spirit.

Despite its dictatorial government, Ordovin society is largely meritocratic. Advancement occurs by serving in the military, gaining wealth for the Dominion, or by joining the Priesthood. Conscripts and volunteers both serve for a minimum of four years; if the nation is at peace, they are offered a modest hide of land and a purse of silver at the end of their service, or extended four year terms (With exponential rewards). Merchants become the captains of ships or the masters of caravans by serving loyally and investing heavily in the enterprise in question, journeying to foreign lands and making new connections. Eventually they become princes and retire, managing vast plantations or mines and funding new masters and captains, continuing the process -- which can only grow larger.

Ordov mines primarily produce gold, lead, and copper, so it must be sparing or trade with other countries for iron and coal. They mint tiny copper trade bars with gold dusting as their primary currency and rate of exchange, and due to the amount they produce, Ordovin barter-bits can be found all along the western coast, and might even form the basis of a standard rate of exchange with many nations of the inner strait. This is partly because Ordovin merchants are so widespread, and because Ordovin foundries produce so many of these bits and give them out freely as gifts to foreign banks and nobles.

Law and order in the Dominion is brutally harsh, but more or less fair. Murder, rape, arson, and other extreme crimes are always punished by public humiliation and execution, often with poetic justice in mind (Arsonists are burned alive at the stake, for example). Theft or larceny of any sort (Including fraud) has a three strikes penalty. On the first account, six of the criminal's fingers (Their choice) are broken. On the second account, those fingers are removed. On the third account, they are branded and sent to the mines for hard labor for the rest of their lives. The young Tia'Gevor publicly dispenses justice once a week in the House of Lords, though it is mostly the dictator and the other Marshalls who make the actual decisions. Otherwise, local ghekhav and Tausar'Luysi settle disputes and resolve social issues.

[b]Army[/b]: Roughly 10% of nation's population (400,000)

Most of Ordov's army is formed of the Norrakoch. These are tribal and clan warriors who go to Damarskan to receive uniform equipment and training; this process stamps out their heritage and individualism and makes them weapons of the state. Norrakoch wear leather shirts sewn with bronze scales, and hardened leather greaves, bracers, and gauntlets. Their shields are of interesting design; composed of half a dozen long, slender branches with bundles of reeds tightly woven around them, the entire collection having a strip of hardened hide stretched over it. This makes it highly resistant to attacks from flung stones, spears, and arrows, and from light one-handed weapons, but very weak to the attacks of two-handed swords and axes. Norrakoch wield one- or two-handed axes, typically with crescent moon blades with a spike on the back, or eight-foot spears with an additional foot of leaf-shaped blade, or a recurved horn-and-wood composite bow. They fight in crescent formation, slowly rushing forward while firing arrows or throwing hatchets and javelins before closing in to melee, hacking away at the enemy and screaming tribal chants before retreating, firing as they go, and repeat the process.

Veteran Norrakoch are allowed to equip themselves with the weapons and armor of the fallen, as long as they can continue to clearly identify themselves as Ordovin troops. Norrakoch that have survived many battles are kept in the reserve as a second or third wave to throw at already exhausted troops that have managed to fend off the original onset of bloodthirsty tribal legionaires.

Irregular Light Infantry Skirmishers (210,000)
Veteran Medium Infantry Skirmishers (70,000)

The shepherds and household warriors of the foothill clans -- only loosely sworn to the Tia'Gevor -- are called down to fight for the Dominion in times of extreme hardship. In times of peace they bludgeon each other with staffs and slings and outdrink and outbreed each other in huge festivals, gorging themselves on beer, fermented goatsmilk, mutton, and barley porridge. When summoned for war, they don layers of hide and crudely tanned leather armor, reinforced with the bones, claws, and fangs of the monsters they slay; the clan champions and chieftains wear the skulls of these beasts on their heads, and their fur cloaks are pinned with brooches of raw gold. They are armed with yew longbows, slings, and simple bronze axes and stone mauls, and mostly fight as ranged troops. Instead of firing stones, they pelt their enemies with lead bullets.

Elite Light Marksmen (30,000)

Since the dictatorship and the rise of the Dominion, additional military units have been added to the war-machine of Ordov. The most important of these is the aznvuygun (AZ - in - vai - GOON). Aznvuygun are professional heavy infantry, sworn to the city of Damarskan and Grand Marshall Urrag vel'Meskemos. They wear a heavy leather hauberk sewn with iron scales, with iron greaves and gauntlets of leather with iron scales. On their heads are iron helms with a single spike coming out the top, and a leering, demonic mask in the front. Each is armed with a round iron shield, a six foot spear, three four foot throwing spears, a scimitar, and their choice of a spiked mace or a one-handed axe. The aznvuygun march in lockstep formation, charging with spears lowered to crash in to enemy formations; they chant the death-songs of ancient demons and fallen heros as spears snap and shields break, drawing sword, axe, and mace to rip the enemy asunder.
Professional Heavy Infantry (58,000)

Ordov did not support a large cavalry corps, and most of it was formed of rich ranchers and the private retinues of merchant princes and caravan masters. Their horses are not barded, and they fight with a mix of light lances, javelins, compound bows, and scimitars; the heaviest armor they could boast would be a leather shirt sewn with bronze scales.
Light Cavalry Skirmishers (27,000)

However, with the rise of the Dominion and the rapid swelling of its military, the generals realized they would need stronger cavalry to combat their counterparts in other armies. The aspet of Ordov wear scattered iron plate over bronze scale and leather armor, and are armed with lances, heavy sabers, spiked long-axes, and warhammers. Their helms bear the fantastic masks of the aznvuygun and are decorated with horse-hair crests, feathered plumes, precious gems, and golden horns. The aspet ride large warhorses (Or destriers) wearing heavy leather and bronze scale barding. The aspet are Temple Warriors, answering only to the Tausar'Luysi.
Elite Heavy Cavalry (5,000)

[b]Navy[/b]

The most common warships of Ordov are river galleys; small, sleek ships with brightly painted green hulls, their gold-painted oars flashing on the water making them look almost like ferocious dragonflies. A light ballista is afixed stern and aft, and two more on port and on starboard. These galleys typically require a crew of some twenty sailors, and have enough room for another twenty passengers or about five tons of tightly packed cargo.

River Galleys (150)

When the river galleys are not enough to hold off the pirates of stream and coast, or if a nation sends in an actual naval invasion, the battle barges are summoned. These massive flat-bottomed ships do not stray far from the coast, and would founder in waves of any real size. Their second and third decks each bristle with four ballistae, port and starboard, and all three decks have two ballistae stern and one aft. On the top deck are two heavy catapults, mounted on turntables so as to (Slowly and ponderously) fire in any direction. These battle barges require a huge crew of sailors, siege engineers, and slaves, some two hundred and fifty altogether. There is no room for actual soldiers or extra cargo, as the holds are filled with food, ammunition, and rower's benches.

Battle Barges (5)

[b]Religion[/b]

On the borders of Ordov and in the dark hills and valleys beyond its rule, the clans still secretly hold to the Old Way, honoring the fey spirits of earth, stone, spring and leaf. They make sacrifices to the Horned Lord and the Lady of the Water and Wind and throw great festivals to celebrate their power. In the Dominion proper, however, the Tausar'Luysi holds sway. Officially, the people of Ordov worship the Light, or Enlightenment. The Path of Enlightenment teaches that the Otherworld, the World Beyond, is made up of the accumulated souls of all those that have fallen, and that this is where magic and more life-force comes from. If you lead a good, pure life (Physically and spiritually) your soul will make the Otherworld a better place...and vice versa. Priestesses of the Light (Only virgin women can be members of the clergy) function as healers and teachers; education is very important in the religion, as well as physically cleanliness.

[b]Magic[/b]

When the Thirteen Families ruled Ordov, each ghekhav was attended by a druid or shaman. These men and women communicated with the fey spirits of the Otherworld, or so they claimed; most served as simple spiritual and practical advisors to the ghekhav, and were skilled at predicting the weather and migrations of animals, among other bits of natural lore. Many were in fact magicians, some of great skill. However, these peaceful herbalists and advisers were slaughtered during the Purge, or forced to repent their heretical ways and follow the Path. Perhaps one in ten chose this route, and three quarters of the rest were killed; the rest fled to other countries or with the Ordovin clans who still resisted Dominion rule, up in the mountains or in the eastern part of the Vale.

As such, Ordov only has one third the normal number of spellcasters that a country of its size might have, but three quarters of them are kept under close tabs by the church. These magicians are high-ranking priestesses of the Tausar'Luysi, or male wizards kept under lock and key. Feared but respected, both varieties keep to themselves in the Temple of Light, researching hidden mysteries, osentisbly for the good of the Dominion. Magic is otherwise outlawed in the Dominion; spellcasters are not allowed in to the country save when escorted by Tausar'Luysi magicians, with no exceptions.

[b]Bestiary[/b]

[url=http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2014/025/8/2/grolm_by_scalywings-d73oq3c.jpg]Nhangek[/url]: The most terrifying creatures around Ordov, the nhangek primarily inhabit the mountains to the north of the Hyryyn. A solitary hunter, the nhangek is incredibly intelligent, able to mimic the sounds of local prey (Including the screams of wounded or frightened humans), and its pebbled hide oozes a slime that causes numbing and eventual paralysis. The nhangek can grow upwards of twelve feet long and weigh in excess of four thousand pounds. Only the bravest of the mountain clansmen hunt these ferocious creatures.

More To Come...

[b]Glossary[/b]

Bardzr'Ghekhav: A high chieftain, ruling over several vassal tribes in addition to his own powerful tribe. The equivalent of a duke. Manages a large domain and resides in a great castle in a strategic and economically important location. The suffix is vel'.
Gevor: Ruler of one of the ancient Ordovin realms, each commanding many bardzr'ghekhav, the Gevor were all slain during the Purge, leaving only the Tia'Gevor. Formerly the equivalent of a king. The suffix is del', but only the High King is allowed to use it any more.
Ghekhav: Chieftain of one of the original tribes of Ordov, many new ghekhav were created during the Purge. Roughly equivalent to a lord, some ghekhav reside in strongholds, but most prefer to dwell in manorial estates and allow the government to manage their military assets, including fortifications. The suffix is ne'.
Purge: When Urrag vel'Meskemos and his loyalists slaughtered the Thirteen Families and, with the help of the Tausar'Luysi, destroyed the wayward clans and most of the religious heritage of Ordov.
Tausar'Luysi: The Path of Enlightenment, which refers to the Ordovin state religion and to their church. Their headquarters is the Temple of Light in Damarskan, across the way from the House of Lords.