Dathral

Nation Overview

Society

Culture

Dath culture is largely defined by religion. Almost all Dath citizens adhere to the local pantheon. Churches place a strong emphasis on worshipping Alrich, the protector god of Dathral, and most peasants follow him as their primary god. Worshipping gods outside the Dath pantheon is not explicitly forbidden. Visitors to the country and those who worship gods from their homeland's pantheon usually find their religion tolerated. One goddess people have very little tolerance for, however, is Cyrune. Both the church and throne of Dathral push the belief that she is a fraudulent diety who seeks to weaken Dathral by by stealing Alrich's followers. People who choose to worship her face heavy discrimination, and are usually ostracized by their communities. Followers of Cyrune are no longer executed, however they are not allowed to build shrines, temples, or recruit people to their religion. Most people who worship Cyrune have long since left the county.

In addition to gods, people of Dathral also hold a strong reverence for saints. In addition to their primary god, most people from Dathral will worship a small collection of saints with personal relevance to them. People usually worship saints from their local region, figures their family has ties to, or ones whose stories they personally connect with. Due to their prominence in Dath culture, nearly every town will claim to have once been home to a great saint. Though many have tried to compile a list of every true saint, no one has come close to completing the impossible task. A saint's legitimacy is usually determined by whethe their strongest champion is a paladin or not.

While Dathral is generally friendly with neighboring nations, they are in a heated rivalry with Altanoise. The Dath believe themselves to be the true inheritors of the empire that formerly encompassed both of their lands. Some of the more extreme people even believe they should “reclaim” their lost territory of Altanoise. Despite this rivalry, war rarely tends to break out among the nations, as neither wants to become vulnerable enough for Alda or Sfaira to gain a hold on the region.

Government

Though they call themselves an empire, Dathral is a nation of many kingdoms held together in close alliance. The kingdoms within Dathral operate with a feudal structure. Each prince divides their land among vassals who handle tax collection and low-level matters of governance. Most vassals choose to divide their fief further, creating a complex hierarchy of greater and lesser lords that manage the country. Some lords may have fiefs so small, they rule over a single village. While vassals may be powerful within their kingdom, they have almost no say in decisions made on a national scale. The governance of Dathral is kept strictly in the hands of the princes.

At the head of the nation's government is the King of Dathral. Locally, the king is known as the Souveränwächter (Sowf-rain-vayct-a), Sovereign Protector. They are considered the ultimate authority of the land. This absolute authority is not as ironclad as the Souveränwächter's Imperial Court would like people to believe, however. In the event the Souveränwächter is dethroned, the princes decide among themselves who gets to take his place. Additionally, the princes supply a majority of soldiers in Dathral's military. If enough of them lose faith in their leader, they can withdraw their troops and demand he surrender his crown. These factors make the throne very susceptible to rebellion. To ensure a total withdraw of troops would be difficult, the Souveränwächter makes sure that Dathral is involved in large military conflicts during periods of unrest. Historically, this often means another call to conquer Altenoise.

The Souveränwächter greatly depends on legitimization from the Votas, Dathral's religious leader, to maintain control over the princes. They may be able to ignore a decree from the Court or the church individually, but none of the princes are foolish enough to disobey both at once. Those who stray too far out of line soon find themselves at the mercy of the Royal Inquisition, a ruthless ecclesial organization dedicated to rooting out heretics and blasphemers. Judgements given by the Inquisition are absolute. Any who dissent find themselves under thorough investigation, and the Inquisition rarely finds suspected heretics to be innocent. Though powerful, the Inquisition is used sparingly to avoid provoking any large-scale rebellions. Fear of the inquisition has historically been enough to keep peasants and individual princes obedient.

Inhabitants

What kind of people live in this nation? What kind of jobs do people tend to work? What clothes do they wear?
Do large subcultures exist within this country? How do those subcultures interact with each other?

Dathral is a country of mostly humans. While significant dwarf and halfling populations exist within the country, they generally do not hold positions of power. Half-giants make their home on the fringes of the nation, living in selcuded villages and keeping to themselves. While living among humans is not unheard of, it is rare for a human village to have more than one or two half giants (assuming they have half giants at all). A small number of Half elves also call Dathral their home. Most half elves in Dathral traveled there from the Basin, usually on a pilgrimage of some sort. Half elves are frequently discriminated against, as they are assumed to worship of Cyrune.

A majority of the Dath are simple peasants. Most spend their lives farming, smithing, logging, or mining. The few from Dathral who do adventure generally become martials or divine casters; arcane casters of any sort are very rare in Dathral. Psionics are slightly more common than arcane magic due the innate psionic abilities of half giants.

Geography

Climate

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Ecology

Describe the general environment of the nation. What kind of flora and fauna live here? Draw attention to anything that makes the nation's environment unique.

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Landscape

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History

Religion

Deities and Philosophies