Banner symbolism: The green flower of the fields and the circles of the High Magocracy. Simple, really.
Demonym: Galadians or Galadosean. Or just halflings. (Even Galadosean halflings?)
Description: A young upstart-nation that was formed in the wake of Halfling idealism and patriotism where different halfling clans, tribes and families joined together to form a single nation overseen by the Galadan Mage Council. Power also resides in landowners and title-holders that effectively function as estates, and the peasantry are usually rural, poor but healthy farmfolk. Seeing as the lower- and middle-class are poor but make up the vast majority of the population, some have taken to banditry and cause trouble. As the nation is still young and most halflings have never been under such a huge governing body, their introduction to politics and such have been bumpy at best. The landowners are often rich, greedy and bribable, giving the commonfolk a dislike for their supposed protectors and a mild unrest hangs over the nation. Under the adamant minds and iron wills of the Galadan Mage Council however, the nation is safe and so is it's immediate future.
From so many halfling tribes joining together, the collective landmass of Galados was deemed to be quite large. Compared to other nations it's in the average, but to the halflings their domain is seen as huge. Vast farmlands ensure the people is well fed and content despite the civil unrest, and so far the only military needed have been a small peacekeeping force.
While food and health is plentiful, riches and wealth is not. Most of the wealth is centralized within the estates and the ruling government body, but even that is not much. There isn't much to export and the halflings simply lack the funds for any significant import. They yearn for trade and many adventerous halflings have begun to set out to try their luck as traders, but so far it's too early to tell.
Seeing as there's not yet an extensive code of laws, most crimes are usually punished in the form of slavery. A convicted criminal is sentenced to servitude for a set amount of time either to the victim of the crime or to the state. The punishment for a crime is usually harsh, but the twist here is that a halfling can never be convicted into slavery for life. Other races can.
A convicted halfling is sentenced to a set amount of servitude, while the punishment of a non-halfling for the same crime is often much more severe. A particularly bad offense can result in slavery for life, and as such, Galados has a slavetrade set in place. It's a rather odd notion to see halflings deal with slavery, but who are they to turn away a profit? They aren't selling fellow halflings, after all.
Halflings that are found guilty of harsher crimes such as murder or kinslaying or stealing from the state are exiled from the nation. Despite this, there isn't much of an overseeing police-body to exact the exile and as such many halfling exiles take to banditry. Then again, not many halflings commit such heanous crimes. Particularly bad offenses by other non-halfling races are either punished by lifetime slavery or execution, though the latter is somewhat uncommon.
Before the unification of the Halflings and the founding of Galados, the lands that are today making up the nation was not only home to halflings. There were humans, goblins, ogres, the occasional centaur tribe, and other primitive beings. The vast majority of at least 80 percent is halfling, however. During the rise of the Halflings, not all of the unification-process was peaceful. Many humans and goblin communities were uprooted and forced to move, while ogre and centaur tribes were tricked into servitude. Halflings are quite charismatic, and Ogres and Centaurs are below average intelligence.
The Halfling race is seen as superior to the other native races of Galados, resulting in the occasional bad treatment of humans, goblins, ogres and centaur alike. They are too few and too scattered to mount any difference or make up any political power, however.
Government: Galadan was a mighty Halfling Wizard who lived about two-hundred years ago. His power was unmatched and his wit unchallangable. He formed a guild of mages that became his apprentices, and he instructed them in powerful magics and intellect. Today, the Galadan Mage Council consists of twelve arch-magi and twenty-four mage-councillors. They convene to speak of topics of magic, politics, government and basicly everything concerning the nation of Galados.
The council grant political power to the estates, wealthy land-owners or halfling nobility that oversee a province or county directly. They are subject to Council laws and supply them with taxes, resources, food and manpower that they in turn get from the peasantry that they oversee and protect. Most nobility have a knack for magic and dream to one day be part of the mage council itself, but the land-owners are another story entirely. They're greedy, wealthy and corrupt. They bribe each other and attempt to one-up each other at every turn, which sometimes means they neglect their duties granted to them by the council. This in turn has caused somewhat of a distrust toward the estates, but the nationalism present in most halfling minds are strongly directed toward the Mage Council itself. In short, trust of the highest governing body is high, while the trust decreases the further down the ladder of governer you go.
Economy:In few words, there isn't much of an economy. The commonfolk is poor, the import and export is minimal and what little wealth there is, is centralized within the government. A few halflings suffer homelessness, but at least thanks to the strong agriculture of the nation many can still be fed or even find work as farmhands. The estates hoard their wealth from the commonfolk and the Council keep the estates relatively in check. Efforts are being made to set up some sort of trade with other nations, but it's too early to tell.
When it comes to technology, the halflings have kept to their own traditions and way of life for a long time, meaning new-thinking ways are very rare, and quickly swatted away by most commonfolk. Despite their technological downtroddeness, the magic performed by the Mage Council more than makes up for their defficiency.
The natural resources of the nation consists of small deposits of very rare metals, possibly jumpstarting foreign trade, or at least so hopes the council.
Religion:Aside from the commonfolk being somewhat superstitious, halflings believe in what they can see and understand. They believe in weather, seasons, good harvests, bad harvests, and so forth, but magic on the other hand is another thing entirely. Galadan the master Wizard is seen as a folklore prophet of sorts, although he carried no religion with him. The Mage Council that rules Galados are not as superstitous and instead think of magic as a force in the world, just like the wind or the sun. They may not understand it fully, but that doesn't stop them from using it to their advantage.
So, no religion.
Geography:The common terrain that runs through all halfling lands are often green grassy hills and lush woods. The very temperate climate makes for perfect farming, and most of the rural community is indeed farmers. To the north, the terrain mostly continues into flat grasslands and the borders are fairly open, but smack-dab in the middle of the border runs a small mountainchain where rivers flow down from. They run across the nation like veins, and it is mostly near these that the halflings have decided to make their homes. Farming communities dot the sides of the rivers in plenty, and some even locate themselves closer to the forests. In the more scarcely populated north-easternmost province lives most of the indigenous centaur tribes. The terrain here is flat and mostly uncultivated and open, therefore perfect for the migrating tribes.
Down south, where the land meets the ocean, the terrain gives way to cliff and jagged rock, much different from what one would expect when travelling Galados. This has made it hard for the Galadoseans to create any sort of port town or sea-faring efforts, but where the many rivers run out to sea there's bound to be some of them that are wide enough and flat enough for comfort. And indeed, the places where it is indeed so is where the largest urban centers of Galados resides, "flourishing" in fishing and farming alike.
Population and Demographics:4,000,000 total under the rule of Galados.
- About 200,000 of these are Humans of different origin. They are subject to Galados rule.
- About 180,000 of these are Goblins native to the land and subject to Galados rule.
- About another 80,000 are Ogres, and live mostly near the cliffs and rocks or mountains where halflings typically don't make their homes. Not all of these have been subjected to Galados rule, and over half of them remain independent.
- Another 40,000 are Centaurs, most of which live in the north-easternmost province. They're scattered into hundreds of different tribes who are sometimes friendly to each other and sometimes hostile to each other. The vast majority of the centaur-population have some cooperation with the central government of Galados and therefore are seen as subject to Galados rule, but some tribes have yet to be absorbed.
Notable LocationsCaerwyn, the capital city, often dubbed the 'white fortress' by Halfling nobility, but it's not as much a fortress as it is a walled town. The walls and buildings all share a common theme of white with differently colored ends and crenelations depending on which district of the town they are in. It is located at the coast at the end of a river in the biggest province, Galadia. It is from this province that the great halfling wizard Galadan got his name, and in turn the nation of Galados. Half the town is walled to the ocean by cliff, and the other half has a functioning port and shipyard. Most of the trade and business is located on the eastern side where, with the port and shipyard. On the western side, on a tall cliff is the Tower of Wizards, the government building, the castle and the mage schools. The Tower of Wizards is close to the cliffs and high in the sky, not made by halfling hands (probably) due to it's peculiar design, and it also acts as a lighthouse.
Lowri is the second urban center of Galados, and the only other one worth mentioning. It is located in the southernmost province by the coast, at the end of a river delta. Here rules the second most powerful family of Halfling nobility (the most powerful being the family of Dunster in Galadia, but they're mostly puppets of the mage council) in the nation, the Taffytons. With such a rediculous name, one knows they had to work hard for their status. When the nation united, Lowri was the most stable and wealthiest regions in Galados and continues to be so despite the mild unrest that now grips the nation. The Taffytons try to keep their people happy and burghers content (so that they won't give in to bribery), but are still plagued by the occasional bandit on the roads. Only time will tell how the Taffytons of Lowri will fair in the future.
Personalities of NoteComing soon(TM)
Institutions:- The Burghers' Conference: a sort of governing institution where many of the estate-holders and burghers meet to discuss matters concerning them. It is always overseen by a member of the council but still may be subject to some corruption.
- The College of Mages: Mages not on the council but still in a position of power such as nobility, lordship, burghery, estate, and so on. They mostly speak of magic and put forward suggestions to the Galadan Mage Council for laws regarding the usage of magic and the combination of magic and power. Suggestions, because they aren't actually a governing body but an extension of the Mage Council.
- The Order of the Green Rose: All halfling nobility that are capable in magic are allowed to to join the Order of the Green Rose, a knighthood order instituted by Galadan during the time of his life. Officially their order hall is in the capital of Caerwyn, but often meet in the second-largest town of Lowri due to the ruling family there of Taffytons being deeply rooted in the order and have several members high in it's ranks. It isn't a military institution officially speaking, but in times of war the Order is expected to lead Galados' military as leaders, mages and soldiers. They are effectively Battle-Mages, armored knights capable of wielding their magic into battle.
- The Galadan Mage Council
- The Guild of Guilds: A rather glorified name for a council for guilds. There are so many guilds in place in halfling society that it would be meaningless to list them all. The halflings recognized this and after much delibering came up with the name 'Guild of Guilds'. It's effectively a senate of different representatives from all guilds where they discuss what law-motions to put forward to the Galadan Mage Council for the nation of Galados. They are the craftsmen and guildsmen of the nation, and therefore much of it's livelihood. Without them, the economy would be null and void.
Military:Organization: (professional/militia/levy/..., doctrine, tactics, equipment, though the latter can be put underneath as well, etc.)
Troop Total: (keep reality and upkeep in mind, e.g. 3% of your population as full-time professional soldiers would be a whole lot. Many seemingly unrelated factors can go into this, including abundance/lack of food and your nation's wealth)
Army:Navy:Other: (Such as siege equipment, internal security, important mercenaries, spies, etc.)
Other:Special traits, remarks, boons and flaws(Here is your chance to decide something unique and important about your nation without basing it on the rolls I gave you. You may have 1 big strength that makes you special, 2 strengths and 1 big weakness, or 3 strengths and 2 big weaknesses. Ask if you're having trouble coming up with something)
