Altenoise

Nation Profile
Description	The scattered kingdom.
Government	Decentralized Feudal Monarchy
Real World Inspiration	France
Other Names
Geography
Location	Western Peninsula
Largest City	Marilliers
Relative Distance From the Basin	Distant
Demography
Demonym	Altenese
Population	5 million
Languages	Altenese, Elvish
Races and Ethnicities	Altenoise Human, Elf, Half-Elf
Religion	Dath Pantheon

Nation Overview

Society

Culture

Altenoise is haughty and condescending. Despite most of their glory being bygone, they lord the fact that their nation was once the heart of the empire that encompassed both Dathral and Altenoise over the Dath. The way of the Altenoise is to sit on their laurels. When one has no laurels to sit on, one clearly isn't stretching the definition of “laurel” sufficiently. That is not to say that Altenese get nothing done, however. When they put their minds to it, they are formidable foes. Despite the attempts of the kingdoms of Dathral to retake the former territory of the united Empire, they have experienced extremely limited success.

Worship is not considered particularly important in Altenoise. While most Altenese would be able to list the gods of their pantheon and give decent descriptions of their portfolios, few of them actually adhere to any religious practice besides attending church services once in a while. The organized church in Altenoise receives most of its funding from the nobility, who keep the temples running for the sake of appearances. This is very evident from the fact that the normally-proud Altenoise could not even be bothered to come up with their pantheon, or even rename the Dath pantheon to have more Altenese names.

Government

Altenoise is technically a Feudal Monarchy, with the king ruling over all of the subjects in Altenoise. In practice, the king's authority is only felt in central Altenoise, with the farther nobles only paying taxes because it would be too much of a hassle to go through a war for independence (and it's not like the taxes are even that high, anyway). Likewise, the king would not dare to call upon the levies of those lords in a time of need, since he knows they would refuse to send any and his lack of authority over them would become clear for all to see.

Despite this, the nobles in the distant reaches of the kingdom have formed a network of alliances with each other, with local dukes and counts leading them almost as if they were their own domains. These alliances are ironclad, and are sufficient to repel foreign invasion even without the aid of the king.

Inhabitants

Altenese are proud and outspoken, never afraid to speak out against anything they view as wrong, whether it be injustice or a mispoken word. Many can be infuriatingly smug and condescending. Altenese are fair-skinned and tend to have light hair, often blonde. They wear as fine clothing as they can afford, using expensive jewelry and imported dyes to accent their outfits.

Geography

Climate

Altenoise receives sufficient rain to support vast amounts of agriculture, so much so that lords near the borders often export food to other nations. The summers are warm, and the winters are cold with moderate snowfall.

Ecology

Altenoise is heavily-forested, though many of these forests are managed by the local lords for the sake of hunting and harvesting wood. Large swaths of land has been cleared to support Altenoise's vast agriculture.

Landscape

Altenoise is mostly flat, with a few hills which grow to mountains near their borders.

History

Religion

Deities and Philosophies