The Holy Kingdom of Almekia

[Anastasia]

This is information that most anyone living in the Kingdom will know.  It's often very broad - as things develop, various PCs will be learning more. Those with the relevant NWP can learn more by talking to me and chatting - this is a work in progress, to be shaped by our adventures and player imput as much as the GM's creative streak. Suggestions, questions for details, or inquires are more than welcome. (Or minor mistakes, though I've made an effort not to make any. On the off chance something I said in passing is directly contradicted by what is here, assume this takes priority, but also bring it up to my attention.)

Holy Kingdom of Almekia

Geography - A wide and sprawling kingdom, a great unified half continent under the command one of king. It's broken into five Dukedoms, ruled by a Great Duke/Dutchess that answers only to the King and those that work in his name.

South - A great thriving dukedom, of northern plains that form the breadbasket of Almekia. Trade courses through this area, goods flowing to the artery of Paxsburg. The coasts have a dense coastal forest around it, often extending for the southern third of the dukedom. Old trade routes run through this forested area, but are less frequently used in this era with the rise of Paxburg's port and well policed northern roads. The easternmost reaches begin to fall into wilds and wastes, as is expected the closer you get to the Eastern Wilds.

The weather is seasonal - wet summers, drier and temperate winters. Snow is known in most places away from the coast, but it's not common. There are no lakes or rivers of extreme note in this area - there was one hundreds of years ago, but the Great Sein River dried out due to unknown reasons. Paxburg is built on the once super fertile mouth of the river.

Ruled by Royal Duke Eustance Wormwoods, an elite if fair handed nobleman.

North - The old heart of Almekia, the cradle of refinement and civilasation in the Holy Kingdom. The great city of Almekia and several other cities are here. While full of refinement, it's highly policed and quite peaceful. One would not expect to find adventure in this realm so close to King Leo..but one may be surprised on occasion. The central section continues in softly rolling plains, with colder weather coming down from the western dwarven mountains. Snowy winters are common, moisture somewhat sparse and coming in great storms.

Ruled nominally by Grand Dutchess Alexandria Zellas Vertias, but much of the dukedom is administered by King Leo's men. This leaves the Dutchess with a live of luxury and leisure - besuiting the woman called the greatest beauty in the Kingdom.

Northwest - Mountains older than man soar, humans becoming sparse at this edge of the dwarven empire. Trade with dwarven travellers is lucrative, with mythril, adamant, jewels, orichalcum and other rarities of the earth the prime motives. Of course, strong dwarven ale, mushrooms, and other fine products are known as well. Dwarven steel, while heavy, is superb for armor and is valued as much as elven armors for those with the strenght to wear it.

Cool and long winters brace this dukedom, ruled by Natani Silverstone - the ducal family is noted to have hints of dwarven blood, and even a dwarven name.

East - Great plains give way to tall grasses steppes in the south, and a great desert of waste and cold in the north. There is little to this region beyond a connection to the Wastes of Serel, a few harder merchants travelling from the regions far to the north and east and south, past the great wastes. There are numerous legends about the Wastes and the Great Freezing Desert, from the Death of Diala to the Curse of Grinoda.

The small outposts are ruled by Archduke Francis Vertias - the father of Alexandria, fallen out of favor with the king in a scandal. These wilds are barely policed, leading to some coming out here to find their fortune.

Northeast - The edge of the Great Freezing Desert begins here. Only a few ruins of olden cities and the only surviving Old City are of note here - the few that pass through this desert to trade either never come back, or are crazier than the gods themselves. Great frozen gales pass through this dukedom year round - men have died of exposure within minutes in July.

Ruled by Lesser Duke Artomi Blackhood. A noted sage and mage, adventurers are known to brave this hostile dukedom to find him.

King Leonardi Delseno Almekia III.

Thirty five years old, already bald, dabbling mage. Generally viewed as a passable if not noteworthy ruler, more interested in magic arcana and his family than the affairs of the kingdom. Luckily for him, he has a few very capable direct underlings. His wife is Queen Grace D'Amanto Almekia, a near mute wallflower in court, but reputed to be something of a dabbler in magic as well. She is said to love her children very much, Prince Henri, Prince Salome, and Princess Maria. He is often called King Leo by the peasantry.

Monetary Units

Golden Griffon - GP. A flat gold coin made by the main royal mints. A soaring griffin is seen on one side and a sunset on the other. Accepted across the realm as 1 GP. Unless noted otherwise, any GP found is assumed to be this sort of coin.

Silver Tankard - SP. A simple and tiny silver coin with a cup on it's surface. Very simple and not of note. The backbone of the coin economy.

Copper Pence - CP. A simplier milled copper coin with a small crown on it's surface. Not worth the trouble to forge by anyone with a lick of sense, so the production, while acceptable, is kept very minimalistic.

Holy Platinum Stamp - A heavy coin of platinum. Worth 5 GP and relatively rare.  By it's initials, it's often called a 'hops'.

Other coins exist, but tend towards rarity. As noted above, any coin found in Almekia and not noted otherwise is assumed to fall into these categories.

Gods

Good

Orial -

The high god of good, light, hope, and heroism. The widower of Diala, the grim avenger paladin, the yearning ligth at the end of the path. The primary god worshipped by many in Almekia, his old figure of open happiness is seen side by side with his eternal mourning for Diala. His clerics preach all that is good, be it by light and love, or by the justice of a shining sword against the hordes of darkness.

Diala(Dead) -

The goddess of life, of health, of redemption. The wife of Orial...and the only god said to have died. Slain by Zamzar the Wicked, a mortal that has become one of the gods himself. The Tyrant that nearly ruined Almekia, and is said to even have had a hand in making the Great Freezing Desert - the man that is a god. Without her light, Orial is said to blanket the heavens in his mourning...and the vow that Zamzar will one day perish on his blade, Clahlim Bellephros.

Neutral

Waukeen

<-Primer on Waukeen->

Money. Trade. Commerce. These are the watchwords of the church of Waukeen. Some call her a fickle goddess- but she sees that the deserving traders will get their due in time, and while trade itself knows no alignment, the clerics of Waukeen seek to make sure that no matter where it occurs, all deals are honored, and all debts are payed. Some clerics dabble in the black markets, while others refuse to touch them, but all are skilled at making deals, and once they give their word, they never take it back.

Clerics of Waukeen tend to be opportunistic, crafty folk, able to spot a good deal a mile away and easily tell a good one from bad. They thrive on civilisation- most hate travelling to backwaters and into the depths of nature, for this takes them from their preferred battleground, the marketplace. Some, though, set themselves up as wandering merchants- others remain in the cities, working within a single temple. Often, these temples are the richest places in town- and they are very generous to the places they live in. For one of the central tenants of Waukeen is that whilst half the game is making money, they other half is sharing in your fortune.

Waukeen is a Lawful Neutral Goddess who grants no special abilities beyond those of the regular class. She's likely to be allied with gods whose domains include order, genorosity, and pleasure.

Zebenm

God of the sea. A raging god of terror and respect, people of all faiths that go out or near the sea pay him homage. His priests are quite rare, with a very, very loose informal church. In many ways, he only has roaming agents and missionaries. Unlike many gods, Zebenm appears more as an elemental force rather than anything concerned with good, evil or another principal.

Evil

Grinoda

God of hatred, revenge, destruction and deliberate terror. A fearsome man clad in bloody shadows, his symbol a cruelly barbed blade of adamant. The functioning high god of darkness, though little is known of these terrible beings save for one. It is quite possible he serves another, one that prefers to do his or her battles outside the light of everything.

Zamzar

The Tyrant, the Human who Now Rules the Abyss. The god of death, murder, patricide, betrayal. The worst humanity can sink to, given power by the ultimate act of darkness - the murder of the Woman of the Light, Diala. His vast demon's helm is his unholy symbol, his priests viewed with terror that nothing else in this plane can bring. Rare as they are...a single possesses great power, said to be able to bring chaos and slaughter with the merest act of simplicity. He is known to be also revered by the chromatic dragons and certain other evilly inclined races - he is said to have done much for them in his time in this world. The only human god to be openly respected by others...a true rarity.

There will likely be more gods, of course. These are a few notable ones.

[Anastasia]

Here's a beta map of Almekia. It's far from perfect, but it's Paint and it's midnight around these parts. I'll get a far better one up later(Or if a PC has an artistic bent and wants to earn some GM brownie points...), but this will service for now.

Yes, get the Ana can't draw jokes over with now. <_<

http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=almekiahate5kb.png

[Anastasia]

To the above map:

This is probably obvious, but up is north, right is east, left is west, and down is south. Forgot a compass point; I suck.

[Anastasia]

The Knights of Solamnia:

The most Holy and Noble order of Knights, based in Paxburg and under the direct command of the Crown of Almekia. Lead by Lord Alexander O'Raithe Sunbane, the knights are a distinct and powerful peacekeeping force within the kingdom - and the spearhead of the army when war is the tune.

Seperated into three groups, all knights work for their credos, and a few loose guidelines. Of note:

1. Honor above all, even to those that do not deserve it.

2. Protecting those that cannot protect themselves is one of the highest means of honor.

3. Those who live in service to the gods of darkness, living to threaten the innocent must be stopped.  The priesthood of Zamzar is the most notably egrerious of these and would immediately merit the full attention of any knight who heard of such activity.

4. The knights venerate Orial, though they generally pay homage to all the gods of good and Zebenm, even naming a sea keep for him.  As the knights had to deal with the sea a very great deal in the past wars, veneration of the elemental sea god is a matter of understandable nessesity.

This is very basic, a rough outline to compliment Dracos' kit. We'll get more into this in game.