Example NS here: [hider=Bretonnia] Name: Grand Kingdom of Bretonnia Ovreview: A land of chivalry and knights and very much a reflection of Authorian legends starkly contrasted with the oppression of its common masses. Its nobility is large and extordinarly wealthy compared to the peasants. Worship of the Lady of the Lake is widespread with many noble knights going out on Grail Quests to earn the Lady’s favor to drink from the blessed Grail Chalice. But centuries of traditions are being challenged by a new king, unlike any before him. Blessed by the Lady herself, their current king is actually of peasant blood with no noble lineage to speak of, he was ordained to be King of Bretonnia and all his descendants to be counted as noble. While popular with the peasants, the nobility only begrudgingly follow their King out of honor and respect for the Lady’s choices but the realm is far from unified. Race & Culture Humans make up the vast majority of peoples in the Kingdom, although some other races and cultures can be seen in the few urbanized cities of the realm. Nobles tend to live in splendor and opulence while the peasantry is treated little more than like cattle or livestock at best by most. Anyone who isn’t a noble knight or a lucky merchant likely lives in Worship of the Lady of the Lake is compulsory for the nobles who often undertake Grail Quests to earn her favor and be able to sip from the Holy Grail. Worship of the Lady is encouraged for even the peasantry by the nobles, but for the most part little thought it given to what they worship so long as its not Chaos entity. Government Britannia relies on the old ways of feudalism with a King ruling all of the Dukes and their Duchies. In law, everything in Bretonnia is the King’s but in particle sense, it doesn’t work like that. Noble blood is everything and only males can inherit titles. To be considered a noble, both of your parents and grandparents must have been noble, making anyone becoming a noble nearly impossible and their line will die out quickly after that. The King must confirmed by the Fay Enchantress for his rule to be validated and technically the Fay Enchantress has greater power than the King and can overrule him, but she rarely gets involved in politics. Kings must also must have complete a Grail Quest and drunk from the Holy Grail meaning there’s always a goo chance the king is competent. This is why the current monarch, King York Gallowgoth, is so unique and controversial. He is not born of noble blood at all, yet the Lady of the Lake herself appeared and ordained the peasant as king and allowing. When the nobles boldly protested this break of tradition saying that he wasn’t a Grail Knight, the Lady simply gave York a blessed blade and sent him on his quest. Everyone thought he would die quickly, but instead he would complete his quest three years later after the Battle of Elmburough where he managed to hold down and entire flank with but a few Men-At-Arms who held their ground and even personally bested the enemy commander in single combat where the Lady appeared before him, allowing him to drink from the Grail. While the nobles do not respect him completely, they are none the less obedient to his rule, if not because of the Lady more than the man himself. Industry Bretonnia is backwards and perhaps the least advanced of all human nations. They have firmly resisted industrialization and have completely shunned the advent of gunpowder. Many things are still made by hand by skilled crafted by artisans although mills and simpler machines powered by wind and water are common. The vast amount of wealth is held by the nobility with the peasant handing over 90% of their harvest and goods which is then handed back out and distributed by the nobility. There are the lucky peasants who have some how become merchants and are significantly better off the the peasant who are in a constant state of poverty, but still pale in comparison to the nobles. While “Crowns” are the official currency, produced in copper, silver and gold (hamlets are luck if they can manage to produce a few copper crowns a day; any peanuts who posses a single silver is considered to be extremely wealthy by most of his kin Magic Lore of Life Lore of Heavens Lore of Beasts Lore of Fire Core: Man-At-Arms - Entering the military is one o the few reliable ways of getting ahead as a peasant is to join the ranks of the local lord’s men-at-arms who often grant those who sign up a large and desirable sign on bonus. Only to reveal that said bonus has to be spent by the individuals on buying equipment for themselves. They wear chainmail with flat-top or kettle helmets and carry swords, spears and halberds along with shields that they can form into a Roman Testudo like formation. Auxiliary Archers - By law, all Bretonnian peasants are required to know how to use the bow as to serve as levied archers in his lord’s army. Any who survive the entire campign are rewarded with a single copper crown as payment for their service. They use various types of longbows and war bows with several types of arrows ranging from fire to pox to heavy armor piercing but only have crude hand weapons and tools and no armor. Knights Errant - Young, brash nobles who have yet to prove themselves and try to make up any shortcoming in skill and discipline with enthusiasm. Along with Knights of the Realm, they form the bulk of the army’s cavalry contingent. Their armor is always the flashiest as they try to show off their colors, much to the chargrain of the most experience soldiers. They charge forth with lance, blade and shield. Knights of the Realm - The backbone of the armies of the Lady, these are knights who have proven themselves and have earned the right to own land having officially being inducted into the ranks of the nobility. They too have lance and shield and ride atop barded warhorses but tend to favor maces and war hammers over plain swords as their experience has taught them the blade is not great against armor. Elite: Battle Pilgrims - Either feral or fanatic peasants who have a zealous devotion to the Lady and her servants and unlike traditional Men-at-arms, they are willing to die to hold the line. They are often based out of a Grail Chapel or other holy sites and will use any weapons and armor that have been discarded by the knights and often make their own equipment by hand. They weird large shields, hand weapons and their distinctive high collar shoulder guards. Battle Pilgrims are not an official army unit, but no commander would ever turn down men and women willing to die for the Lady. Grail Relique - When a Grail Knight dies, his arms, armor and even very body still hold holy magics imbued within them. Battle Pilgrims will often carry their hero on their shoulders, acting as the horse to the skeleton of the dead knight. Its very presence inspired all around it and those carrying the Relique would sooner die than drop it. This also holds a second purpose as their zealous guard of the body means that it cannot be touched by necromancers. Foot Squires - Young men who are not yet old enough to mount a horse and act as Knight Errants, squires are essentially apprentices to older Knights to learn the ways of chivalry and battle, accompanying them to battle with great sword in hand. Every squire wishes to be a knight and every knight wishes for a better squire. Questing Knights - Those who hear the clarion call of the Lady are driven to seek her favor and become Questin Knights. They ride out around Bretonnia and even the world doing chivalrous deeds and preforming brave, selfless acts in the hopes of being granted the Lady’s Blessing. Although their quests may take years and many die in their noble quests, there will always be those who seek the favor of their goddess. Mounted Yeomen - Men at arms who have survived for so long and have become so experienced that they gain the limited right to ride lame or crippled horses. Yeomen are divided between being sergeants of Men-At-Arms regiments and being mounted scout cavalry with shield and spear or being mounted bowmen. Many of these Yeomen are as experienced and capable of the noble knights they fight with but the nobles have either ignored or even surpassed these boasts. Pegasus Knights - Wild flying herds of pegasi are not uncommon in the lands of Bretonnia but it takes a particularly skilled hand to tame them, a brave (or foolish) heart to ride them and a wealthy bank to afford them. As such, only the wealthiest of nobles can ride to battle upon such steeds but they form the best flying warriors of the Old World. Rare: Grail Knights - Living incarnates of the Lady’s will, these knights have been granted favor of the lady and have drank from the Holy Grail making them near demigods with extraordinary strength, vigor and vitality as well as prolonging their effective lives greatly. They almost glow with an ethereal air about them and are the paragons of Bretonnian society, riding into battle with flaming lance or blade to destroy those who threaten the realm. Trebuchet - The go-to siege engine of Bretonnia that has been around for generations. The trebuchet is never built to be transported and in the past only the important parts where kept and transported and most of the frame was built on site given the lack of people who can actually build and aim the damn with nobles having distain for such things and peasants being too stupid otherwise. However in recent years, the few engineers have found a way to make a “collapsible” trebuchet allowing for fast quicker transport and set up. Skaal Guard - Once a tribe of northern raiders who built a settlement on the shores of Bretonnia, the Skaal Guard are a very recent formation where King Gallowgoth offered them an alternative to being put to the sword, acknowledging their press in battle. They’re a strange mishmash of both Bretonnian herald and tabards over Norscan bodies wielding norther great axes. Its said that the true reason why the King created the Skaal Guard was out of fear that having a more traditional bodyguard would open himself up to the plots of the nobles who wish to see him gone and that having a guard loyal to him first and not Bretonnian traditions would protect him. While many question their loyalty, they have served with unwavering courage and ferocity unseen in Bretonnia as they charge into the frey. Heroes: Knight Champions Damsels Battle Pilgrim Abbot Named Characters: King York Elmhart Duke Montepier Duke Louis Fay Enchantress The Green Knight William Woods [/hider]