Chapter Text
Southern Kingdom = Tänöwill
Capital: Dorwine
Ruling House: the Uchiha
Royal residence: Pearl Palace
Family Words: "Where the sun burns, the lions rule."
Characteristics:
The Southern Kingdom stretches from the southern borders of the Zone of No Man to the inhospitable Stone Wasteland on the southernmost peninsula. It encompasses diverse territories ranging from the fertile Palm Plains and the Southern Savannahs or the Vineyard to the completely uninhabitable arid heart of the Nereder Desert, which takes up roughly a third of the entire kingdom. It is the most cultured and richest country on the entire continent, thanks largely to the abundance of gold mines beneath the Volcanic Mountains, the opal mining of the Opal Islands and the abundance of pearls in the Bay of Scallops. The climate is typically hot and quite dry in places, but dry and rainy seasons alternate periodically in much of the area.
Culture:
Southerners are a lively but very cultured people. They are very civilised, with sewage systems in the larger towns. The architecture is monumental, airy and highly ornate, typically with slender towers, columns, reliefs and stained glass windows. Celebrations (especially religious ones) are famous for the abundance of wine, singing and dancing, exquisite delicacies and sensuality. Southerners are renowned throughout the continent for their relaxed manners. Sex in this country is considered almost a lifestyle on par with all other arts. Thanks to brisk foreign trade with countries far across the sea to the east, Southern marketplaces are regularly filled with an abundance of exotic goods. Tänöwill is more literate than in other countries, using cutlery as a rule when dining, and is keen on spicy, very piquant food and personal hygiene.
Exports: gold, opals, red wine, skins and horns of exotic animals, tänöville steel, precious fabrics, spices and fruits, fish
Religion: 3 main gods: - the supreme god Izanagi, the Creator, strict, wise, righteous, Judge of souls.
- his wife Izanami, Mother of Nature, compassionate, nurturer, protector
- their daughter Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and light, gives insight into the afterlife
Other selected gods: - Tsukuyomi, god of the sea.
- Nawarashi, goddess of the desert
The ruling House:
According to legend, the first Uchiha fought the fire dragon Nerolapis and won. In exchange for his life, the dragon offered to bring him to a land where his family would rule for millennia and which he would conquer. Thus the Uchiha came to Tänöwill a thousand years ago, and in memory of their encounter with the dragon, hot dragon blood is said to flow in their veins. Chronicle records, however, prove the unification of the savage tribes under Uchiha rule and the subsequent enculturation over many years.
The Uchiha are the only tribe in all of Alqualas whose royal lineage has never been broken. Perhaps because of this deeply rooted tradition, they are a revered symbol of royalty to the southerners. Southerners are proud of their ruling family and show great respect and affection for the members of the royal family.
All Uchiha are characterized by their raven black hair and eyes, which are passed down from generation to generation. The symbol of the family is the leodemon and the seat of the House is the Pearl Palace (said to be the most beautiful building in Alqualas), which is famous for its monumentality and magnificent pearl decoration, extensive gardens with ponds, gazebos and rich flora.
The current king is Madara Uchiha, a man who is rumoured to have never seduced a single woman in his life, but countless men. He remains unmarried and childless.
Fighting style: the Southerners fight with all the usual weapons - swords, bows, crossbows, daggers... However, the typical Southern fighting style is the exquisite control of the spear, which includes various pirouettes, great speed and flexibility. This fighting is rather like a deadly graceful dance, the fighter usually tossing the spear from one hand to the other, twirling and turning it as needed.
Fauna: Leodemons - These are huge cat-like beasts that once inhabited Tänöwill and posed a great threat to its inhabitants before the Uchiha tamed and subdued them. Today, they are no longer found in the wild at all, but are carefully kept in the royal palace. Leodemons once exceeded the size of their smaller relatives, the common lions, and their fur is typically black. Eye colour varies and usually appears in shades of gold, yellow, green or blue. Leodemons have been inextricably linked to the Uchiha for centuries, and each royal descendant is given their own leodemon cub at the age of five, which they then grow up to live with for life. A bond is formed between them so magical and strong that the leodemon dies on the same day as its master.
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Nordic Kingdom – Winterhold
Capital: Nordstone
Ruling House: Kumogakure
Royal residence: Stone Fortress
Family Words: "The House of Thunder and Axe."
Characteristics:
The Nordic Kingdom stretches from the northern borders of the Zone of No Man to the year-round frozen and uninhabitable Polar Great-Mountains and the Island of the Damned. Winterhold is a cold and harsh land with few fertile lands around Windhill Fortress and the Kerrar Highlands. It is a mountainous region, with the more continuous plains only extending to the inhospitable Ice Plains and the Winterlands, frozen for part of the year. The lands here are not very fertile for grain, but they contain a great wealth of minerals, especially iron and silver mined in the Silver Mountains, and diamonds are no exception. The Northerners are the least cultured people in Alqualas, as they struggle to survive most of the time, but they boast a pristine landscape with an abundance of mostly coniferous forests. It is the least populated kingdom on the continent.
Culture:
The Northerners are a people as rugged as their land. Literacy levels are poor and the dining culture is barbaric, but the inhabitants are men (and women) of feats accustomed to working hard and making their living from the harsh elements. Nordic architecture is primarily stone to withstand the frequent fierce gales and blizzards, austere and unadorned, with purpose overriding aesthetics. Castles tend to be dark and gloomy, but the Northerners have also adopted the art of glassmaking from other countries, so there is no shortage of windows, albeit small and often closed with petticoats. The Northern nobility and vassals (unless they are part of the royal court) live in small isolated fortresses, so the settlement of Winterhold is rather spotty. The typical Nordic drink is hot mead.
Exports: iron, furs, wood, silver, mead, fish, diamonds, whale blubber
Religion: 2 main gods - Lord of Winter, cruel, strong, male element
- Lady of Summer and Water, generous, caressing, feminine element
Other selected gods: - Crow, transports the souls of the dead to the underworld.
Jashinist religion - the only god Jashin, cruel, mad and immortal,
insatiably bloodthirsty, demanding blood sacrifices.
The ruling House:
According to legend, the members of the current ruling house in Winterhold are descendants of the ancient giants that supposedly inhabited the northern kingdom before the arrival of the first tribes. The Northerners follow strength above all else, so over the centuries there have been frequent changes in the ruling house when a ruler seemed weak or incapable. However, the Kumogakure family has ruled for several generations, and in addition to the strength that is typical of all Winterhold residents, blond hair is also a hallmark of the royal line. The symbol of the family is a crossed axe and thunder, and the seat is the Stone Fortress at the foot of the Snow Mountains. The current king is the widowed Raikage Kumogakure, also known as the Lord of Thunder, with only legitimate son Darui, bastard Hidan and a number of daughters. The hallmark of the current king is brutal physical strength and short temper.
During his father's reign, the permafrost of the northernmost island has become a place where the worst criminals, for whom execution would be too merciful, are sent to slowly freeze to death. As a result, the territory was renamed the Island of the Damned.
Fighting style: although the Northerners are proficient with all common weapons, their typical style is the battle axe, which they use to successfully slaughter their enemies and throw it spectacularly. The Northerners are not given to subterfuge and are too heavy for great speed, so they usually attack straight and full force, with a ferocious roar.
Fauna: Murdebears - These are relatives of bears, with oversized canines and blood-red eyes. Males reach the size of an adult horse and their food includes their smaller relatives, the common bears. They are usually solitary animals, but in winter they may gather in groups of about two or three animals, and the largest numbers live in Murdebear Pass, but they can be found throughout virtually all of the more northern Winterhold. They often pose a great danger and attack villagers' livestock. Hunting murdebears is a favourite, if extremely risky, pastime of the nobility.
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Western Kingdom – Elinion
Capital: Narrowfield
Ruling House: Terumi
Royal residence: Grass Castle
Family Words: "We hear the grass grow."
Characteristics:
The Kingdom of Elinion is the most diverse of all in terms of territory, extending from the northernmost regions to the southernmost in the Black Meadows, an area covered in ash from the Volcanic Mountains. There are vast and fertile plains as well as the mountainous Sharpridges. The inhabitants of Elinion are thus the most adaptable to any climate, while the Northerners can't stand the hot southern plains and the Southerners freeze to death in the northern blizzards. The Western Kingdom is characterized by its vast expanses of grassland, and they also own the largest islands in all of Alqualas, Basilisk Island and the Queen's Crown. It is the only one of the three countries to mine copper in the southern parts.
Culture:
The Westerners are a proud and somewhat calculating people who follow the motto "when two argue, the third laughs". The majority of the population are pastoralists and farmers, moderately educated and relatively civilised. The architecture alternates between wood and stone and is quite ornate, but tends to be more naturalistic and moderate in colour, with rich murals. Typical Western delicacies include snails of all kinds and strong beer is a popular drink.
Exports: grain, copper, beer, horses, flowers
Religion: Moku - the only official monotheistic religion on the continent
- more than a god or goddess, it is a kind of worshipped power of nature and order of the whole world, which can take on a variety of male and female forms
The ruling House:
The Terumi family did not originally come from high nobility, let alone royalty. They were a knightly class, but through various stratagems over several generations rose to the court, where they subsequently unleashed a rebellion that led to the overthrow of the previous king and the establishment of the new Terumi dynasty, which has ruled ever since. However, it is not recommended to remind them of their originally lowly origins, they tend to be quite touchy about it. The hereditary mark of the royal family is red hair. Since the Westerners are the only ones of the three kingdoms to also recognize women's rights of succession, and the previous king fathered an only child, a daughter, the current queen of Elinion is Mei Terumi, a short-tempered and ingratiating woman who steadfastly refuses marriage proposals from Elinion's own nobility in the hope of securing an even nobler husband - ideally of royal blood from one of the neighbouring lands. The family crest is a horse surrounded by branches.
Fighting style: the Westerners can also use all available weapons, but they are especially famous for their cavalry. They breed a special type of horse that they train to fight from a young age, and likewise the riders are more at home on horseback than on solid ground. Their deadly troops are their archers on warhorses.
Fauna: Elinion Horses – These are a species specially bred in the western kingdom for combat purposes. They reach medium size and are fast, hardy animals, supposedly more intelligent than all other related species. They are bred exclusively in the royal studs, which are located in two locations in Elinion, and are an important and famous export. Colours range mainly in brown, from dark bronze, to chestnut, to milk chocolate, with whites being very rare.
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Zone of No Man
In the centre of the whole Alqualas is the so-called Territory, Zone or No Man's Land. This is said to be the oldest and most magical place on the entire continent, and is entirely made up of a zone of ancient forest with only two narrow safe passages, the East and West. In the Zone of No Man, according to legend, the long-forgotten original gods, cruel and merciless, or rather some dark, intangible powers work through an innocent-looking but murderous mist that stealthily creeps up and suffocates its victims. By all accounts, anyone who spends an extended period of time in the No Man's Land (if they are lucky enough to avoid the fog) goes mad and their minds become clouded. The souls of the unfortunate victims are then said to never be at peace and are dragged down and trapped forever in the Sea of the Dead, a narrow bay adjacent to the No Man's Land where the water is so salty and poisonous that no creature can live in it, just as the entire No Man's Land is completely uninhabited by humans and animals. The only life here are trees, mosses, lichens and ferns. It is a neutral territory belonging to none of the three kingdoms.
Relations between kingdoms
Over the centuries, various battles and wars have taken place between each and all three kingdoms, and the borders of the countries have changed according to the victories of the moment. However, a long and unbroken period of peace came a century ago, when the borders were settled and Elinion, Tänöwill and Winterhold lived together in polite tolerance and respect.
Ten years ago, however, an incident occurred when Tajima Uchiha was poisoned by wine that came as a gift from the Winterhold king. Winterhold, however, denied involvement in the murder, and this sparked a war between the southern and northern kingdoms that lasted for many years, interrupted only by brief truces, and which has continued with intermittent success to the present day. Although some trade relations have continued to develop, a deep and implacable hatred and contempt for each other has settled between Southerners and Northerners.
Elinion refused to join any side from the start and to this day remains untouched by the war and neutral.
Attractions
- Several laws common to all kingdoms apply throughout Alqualas (e.g. the prohibition of subjecting a member of the high nobility to the torture law), and most local laws apply
- Special postal hawks are trained throughout Alqualas to send messages quickly (especially among the nobility, but almost anyone can use this method)
- In the early days, all the kingdoms spoke different languages, until 500 years ago when they were unified into a single language - Alqualese
- Each country has its own favourite treatments - the northerners frequent the sauna, the southerners are fond of various spas and the westerners can't get enough of mud baths