The Hylands
Structure
The King and/or Queen is in charge of the nation, aided by their Faerie Steward and council.
History
The Hylands has a monarchy, ruled by the Alarys since before memory. The line has grown for millennia, and the current rule belongs to Lorcan Alary and his wife Valda. After them it will pass to their daughter Twilight and her husband Fogg, then to their daughter Teresa and her husband Auberon, then to their daughter Phaedra, then to her daughter Claudia, then to her daughter Rilla. Beyond that the line is unknown.
Beginning with Lorcan and Valda, The Hylands have always had a faerie high steward. The first was Marci Aire, along with her husband Surtus, followed by her son Shadsplint. Beyond that the line is unknown.
Military
The Hyland Guard is in charge of the protection of the capital and the royal family. Beyond that, each city has its own military division.
The Hylands’ strength lies in its archers, first and foremost. Not only can the military archers fight, but everyone in The Hylands has some skill with a bow, and many have trained extensively, making them ready and able to fire upon enemies should the need arise. Second in strength are its infantry, and many of its archers are almost as capable with a sword as with a bow. Third come its cavalry, saved as a last defense. The navy is rarely necessary and would be largely ineffective if it came to naval warfare, considering it’s mainly composed of merchant vessels; these could still shoot, but they’d be too few to do any real damage.
Weapons
Longbows, shortbows, and crossbows are all common, as are longswords and shortswords. Wood is easy to come by in The Hylands, and iron is easily imported from close neighbor Remera.
Armor
Hylian armor is fairly simple, usually consisting of a green tunic with brown leather breastplate, boots, and pants. Bracers are common to protect from bowstring scrapes.
Weapons
Longbows, shortbows, and crossbows are all common, as are longswords and shortswords. Wood is easy to come by in The Hylands, and iron is easily imported from close neighbor Remera.
Armor
Hylian armor is fairly simple, usually consisting of a green tunic with brown leather breastplate, boots, and pants. Bracers are common to protect from bowstring scrapes.Technological Level
Communication
Hylanders communicate via courier or via messenger eagles (if you’re really well-off). Couriers travel on horseback most of the time and always ride red roans so that they’re set apart.
Transportation
Most people ride on horseback or walk. Wagons are also common modes of transportation, generally uncovered.
Medicine
All medicine is natural, drawn from the plants and other substances found in the earth. These have proven to be the best, and generally people don’t trust any artificial treatments that some doctors experiment with.Religion
The majority of Hylanders are Athairan. Some, however, either don’t claim a religion at all or worship the gods of Zidor or Katar. Athairan is the national religion and thus the one that has formal celebrations. These celebrations include Provedan (celebrating Athair’s death and resurrection) and Naissan (celebrating the creation of the world).
Athair is the one true God, and he’s primarily known as a father and a savior. (Also a bunch of other things, but those in Aleruus mainly know him by these attributes.) He created everything, watched everything fall apart as people made terrible choices, and then allowed himself to be executed and came back to life to defeat sin and death and give people a chance at eternal life.
Trade & Transport
Covered wagons are used to transport goods for trade, both internally and internationally.
Education
School begins at age five and continues through age seventeen. Children are taught math, Arkannen, Severen, basic science, and history. Science can be explored further by interested students, but it’s not required past a certain point. Magical science is an elective, and music is a required class. Music has several sub-classes, so to speak, including chorus, orchestra (for lack of a better term), and songwriting.
Almost anything can be studied in more detail if desired, and any extracurricular studies submitted are accepted for credit.
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Capital
Demonym
Hylander
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Crowned Republic
Power Structure
Autonomous area
Economic System
Traditional
Currency
A platinum coin is the highest-ranking coin. There are four gold coins to a platinum, ten silver, twenty bronze, and one hundred iron.
Major Imports
Iron, from Remera.
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
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I like how thorough this is. I especially like that the cities have their own military, haha. The religion sounds cool as well. I'd be interested in knowing more about the Provedan and Naissan celebrations involve--I seem to still be thinking about celebrations/traditions because of a WA prompt awhile back.
Thank you! It's honestly been so long since I wrote this that I'd forgotten about Provedan and Naissan, lol, but they'll be fun to develop! Traditions are something I've been wanting to work on more ever since reading a great blog post on the topic and realizing how powerful they are in communicating and reinforcing cultural worldviews.
Exactly! And they are a concept that our society is extremely weak on at the moment--the focus lately seems to be to take meaning out of our traditions rather than remember what they mean.