Thrane

Thrane is one of the original Five Nations that formed the Kingdom of Galifar before The Last War. It is the only nation out of the Five Nations that has replaced its monarchy with a theocracy. Unlike the other nations which largely worship the Sovereign Host religion, Thrane's state religion is the Church of the Silver Flame.

Geography

Thrane is located in central Khorvaire, sharing its western border with Aundair and its southern one by Breland. It also shares a small land border with The Mournland in the south-east though is largely separated by Scions Sound. Thrane occupies a rich territory of fertile farmland and large forests. With natural waterways demarcating most of its boundaries, Thrane was the only nation not to lose territory due to the Treaty of Thronehold. Thrane also shares the closest proximity to Thronehold.

Society & Culture

The Thranish people are overwhelmingly honest and passionate about their state religion The Church of the Silver Flame. Thranish culture is conservative in that the Thranish are devoted to religion, family, work and puritanical ideals. Thranes are known to be hard working, once accepting a task they devote themselves to its completion. The Thranish tend to lead abstinent lives, gambling, carousing and similar hedonistic activities are frowned upon.

Art

Thranish art embraces and expresses the tenets of the Silver Flame. The most popular style of art in Thrane is Kree-Flamic, a stylized form of rendering that uses cubes and triangles to create all shapes and images. A counterculture has emerged within Thrane's art world known as Pre-Kingdom style and though still small it is growing.

Cuisine

Most foreigners tend to think that the theocracy stifles secular life in Thrane however, Thranish cuisine is surprisingly good. During a diplomatic visit Princess Wroya of Breland once said "It is like a breath of fire in the cold of a dark winter's night" after partaking in the Feast of the Silver Flame.
Thranish cuisine utilizes thrakel spices cooked in thick sauces. Thrane cuisine tends to be heavy, filling and spicy. Renowned Thranish dishes are thrakel-seared beef in red sauce, three-thrakel fish stew and silvered vegetable skewers. Desserts are also popular and are used to counteract the spicy nature of the main meal. The desserts are often sweet and served cold the most famous of which is silverfruit pie topped with beesh-berry sorbet.

Power groups

• Council of Cardinals
• The Galifar Loyalists
• Knights of Thrane
• The Silver Torch

National Anthem

The Thranish national anthem is Light the Way the lyrics are as follow.

“ O Silver Flame, light the way
Through war and darkness and despair;
O Silver Flame, we shall not stray!
Spirit of Thrane, hear our prayer.
No foe can dim your argent glow
No child can live beyond your light
With swords in hand,
Your soldiers stand,
O Silver Flame, burn ever bright!”

Politics

Politically Thrane is very distinct to that of the other Five Nations. The most notable deviation is that it is no longer a monarchy but the first and only theocracy of Khorvaire. After the death of King Thalin many were concerned about the weakness of the next in line, Prince Daslin. Since the country was at war it was relatively easy to convince the people to want to replace the prince. In 914YK reigning Prince Daslin acceded the throne to the Silver Flame church without opposition. Being a theocracy of a foreign religion to that of its neighbors, Thrane often feels isolated and had the most difficulty during the Last War making alliances.
Who should rule the country is probably the biggest political debate within Thrane. The majority are content with the status quo however, many believe that the monarchy should be restored. To this day the scions of the Thranish monarchy are simply figureheads without any temporal power. Ruling Queen Diani ir'Wynarn supports the return of the monarchy and many Thranes, especially nobles support her return. A third proposition to this problem exists within Thranish politics, one held by Captain Otherro of the Knights of Thrane is that the monarchy should be restored to rule alongside the church rather than replace them.
Supporting the side of restoring the monarchy however, are a group of extremists known as The Galifar Loyalists or Throneholders colloquially. This group criticizes the events in which the church seized control of the nation casting doubt on its legitimacy.
Thrane is still rebuilding from the results of the Last War and its treasury is low on coins. It is in debt to many dragonmarked houses, particularly House Kundarak and in return its citizens are overtaxed. Unable to afford large scale repairs many cities show signs of destruction wrought by invaders.
The dragonmarked houses find it very difficult to operate within Thrane due to the church's strict legislation.

Cities of Thrane

Aelyndar · Angwar Keep · Arolangard · Aruldusk · Arythawn Keep · Athandra · Auxylgard · Avaroth · Castle Rhonewatch · Danthaven Daskaran · Flamekeep · Fort Light · Harrowgard · Lessyk · Morningcrest · Nathyrr · Olath · Rellekor · Sentinel Keep · Shadukar Sharavacion · Sigilstar · Silvercliff Castle · Siyar · Tellyn · Thaliost · Traelyn · Valiron

Other notable features

◾Brey River ◾ The Burnt Wood ◾ Chamber of the Flame ◾ The Face of Tira ◾ Harrowcrowns ◾ Scions Sound ◾ Shadukar ◾ Thrane River

History

Under Galifar

The nation of Thrane's name originates from its first governor-prince Thrane ir Wyrnan, in a formal proclamation in 32 YK. However, the nation itself was one of the original 5 human nations during the settlement of Khorvaire until it was conquered by Galifar I. After Galifar's conquest, Thrane was governed by relatives of the king of Galifar until the Last War.
In 299 YK, fiends began invading Thrane from a chasm in the Tamor HIlls. This incursion was defeated only after a paladin named Tira Miron sacrificed herself to defeat the leader of the fiends. Tira's sacrifice inspired the creation of the Church of the Silver Flame, which would become the dominant faith in Thrane by 400 YK..

The Last War

When King Jarot died in 894 YK, Thalin ir'Wyrnan was the governor of Thrane and a devout follower of the Silver Flame. Seeing the chaos following Jarot's death, Thalin broke with tradition and declared Thrane independent with himself as its King, believing himself to have divine right to rule, helping to spark the Last War. After Thalin's death in 914 YK, Thrane rejected his son Prince Daslin as too weak for the throne, and instead became the first theocracy in the Five Nations.
Thrane fought zealously despite being surrounded on all sides by enemies during the Last War. But while it ended the war owning territory from Aundair and Breland, including the former Aundairian capital of Thaliost, many lives were lost and coffers drained in the process.

Worship

Despite common belief, the majority of Thranes are not zealots and tolerate other belief systems because most are aware that Tira Miron herself started as a paladin of Dol Arrah. The Thranish understand that The Silver Flame demands its followers only destroy evil incarnate in the forms of the undead, fiends and other abominations. If a paladin sensed the evil within a person they would council them back to the light and as a rule would not attempt to execute them. However on some extreme occasions this has been too hard a set of ideals to follow.