County
The eastern most province of Adinerado, and a major political and economic power in its own right. This territory protects the coasts and mountain passes of its parent nation.
Structure
- Earl: Leader of the Province, head of the royal family.
- Viscount: Leader of a Shire, and head of a greater noble family.
- Thane: Leader of a Fief, head of a lesser noble family.
- Landman: Runs an estate, member of a royal or noble family, the aristocracy.
- Marchman: Serve at all levels of government, lesser aristocracy.
Culture
Their is an etiquette for interpersonal relations that is strictly adhered to. Verbal greetings among the elites are said in the order of honorific, position, title, family name, and given name. The peasantry follows the order position, title, family name, given name, and place of birth. The higher someone stands in society to the speaker the more of their name they must use.
Physical greetings are commonly a forearm grasp for nobles and hand shake among peasants. Clergy inclines their head with hands raised and military salutes with right fist over heart, left hand on weapon.
Most common pet is the cat, especially in cities and towns. Farmers and shepherds also keep dogs. Nobles keep hawks, falcons, and hounds for hunting.
Public Agenda
To protect and maintain its citizens and holdings. Pave, repair, and secure roads. Dig wells and sewage/ drainage ditches. Provide security from bandits and invasion. Build, maintain, and secure bridges and ports. Provide courts for high and low justice. Maintain birth/ death records and citizen rolls. Enforce construction standards on homes. Mint coins and catch counterfeiters. Ensure doctors and priests make their rounds. Ensure skilled labor jobs are filled (carpenter, smith, weaver, glazer, etc.) Guard against disasters such as famine, fire, flood, and disease. Provide a mill, either wind or water. Provide grounds and security for fairs.
Military
The County can field an army of five battalions, commanded by two Cavaliers appointed by the Earl. One leading the Order of the Hawk and the other leading the Order of the Hound. Together they shield the County and the whole of Adinerado. The Hounds command a fleet of ships that protect the navigable waters in the Sostaut Sea. Two and three mast, carvel-built ships, with square and lateen sails make up the core of this force. Numbering twenty warships, and more than triple smaller vessels, it is the single largest naval force in the region.
Religion
No official religion is endorsed by the County. Both the Church of the Great Mother and the Ban Fellowship have a strong presence in their lands. The nearby Cathedral, Aefus Gate, brings strength to those who follow the church. While the proximity to Bambes Trañe, a major guildhall, does the same for the Sartrix. Einjar who reside within still keep to the Druid Circle and have even converted others to their faith, most of whom are of the Craonana circle. The Mauri worship their ancestor spirits at home in private shrines.
Agriculture & Industry
Great farming estates produce oats, millet, barley, and various other grains. Green and broad beans, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, yams, beets, apples, pears, purple grapes, hot peppers, and more feed this region and the neighboring ones. Flax made linens are popular and produced at large scale.
Trade & Transport
Trade routes follow the river southeast and diverge at its mouth, traveling east and west. River ships capable of carrying several tons make their way down river, while wagon trains make the return trip as merchants take their goods to market. Larger ships allow for trade with neighboring lands and islands far out in the Sostaut Sea.
Education
The quality of education varies from place to place, but in all areas students are learning at the age of 7. This is true for both boys and girls. Where they learn is what varies. The wealthy send their sons and daughters to the neighboring noble courts to be trained by the College of Nobles. The poor mostly rely on the church, they teach academics Monday through Friday mornings and religious studies on Sundays after mass. Until the age of 14 they learn the basics of language and etiquette. After which point they can choose a career path.
At age 14 students can begin the study of higher learning, starting with the liberal arts. Desuduntre has several options between the Royal Academy, the church, and the fellowship. Firstly, they learn the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric. They learn the knowledge of things, an understanding of those things, and finally to express one's views on those things. After completing this three-year course, a student is granted a bachelor's degree. Then they learn the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, harmonics, and astronomy. This is to learn numbers in the abstract, numbers as they relate to physical space, numbers as they relate to time, and numbers as they relate to both space and time (motion). After this four-year course a student is granted a master's degree.
The practical arts of law, medicine, and war are taught at the royal academy. And every major city has guilds regulating certain industries. The most common and most powerful are hewing, masonry, carpentry, shipwrights, millers, and weavers. Every profession can be governed by the guilds if there are enough of them in an area. One can begin their formal training at the age of 14, with nothing more than a formal education in language and etiquette.
The performing arts are taught by masters in a classroom setting, these studies are most commonly left to the freemen and yeomen. Anyone who can afford the fees is welcome. Acting, singing, and playing instruments are the highest forms of the art. Juggling, acrobatics, and the like are viewed as lesser and require less of a financial commitment to learn. The younger one starts, the better.
Infrastructure
Paved roads crossing its entirety facilitate the movement of both goods and its armies. Walled cities dot the frontier with protected docks and harbors along the Uduntre and Sostaut coast. There are several major bridges operated by the County to protect river crossings, water mills along the river, aqueducts to bring water to the major cities too far from the shore and sewers to dispose of the water after. And wells and drainage ditches for those with no river access. The courts exist for both high and low justice, to maintain birth and death records, mint coinage and catch counterfeiters, and provide grounds for fairs.
Type
Geopolitical, Province
Capital
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Palace economy
Currency
Common coinage is that of Adinerado. There are four denominations regardless of material: usually steel, copper, silver, and gold. The dinar (1), tudin (2), thrudin (3), and denier (4). The value of the metals is .05 for steel, 1 for copper, 20 for silver, and 320 for gold.
Legislative Body
Among other powers, the College of Nobles of Adinerado proposes all laws, regulates provincial and foreign commerce, and controls taxation and expenditures. The gentry rule most of the land, City Councils rule each individual city in much the same way. The noble houses each have representatives in the councils, chosen by the heads of said houses. The Earl must sign any law for it to be passed.
Judicial Body
High crimes go before the Kings Court in Demesne. Local Noble Courts adjudicate Mid crimes punishable by fines, serfdom, mutilation, or confinement. Lower courts adjudicate Low crimes punishable by fines, serfdom, or mutilation. If a noble is brought to court they face a triumvirate of magistrates, each holding equal or higher rank than him.
Noble courts convene semiannually, around the equinoxes. Lower courts convene the day of a full moon. Those awaiting trial can be confined in a cell within a tower, under the watchful eye of the constable or marshal, until they are brought before the magistrate.
Executive Body
The Earl has near complete authority within the province to enforce the law. Knights appointed by him to lead the Order of the Hawk ensure his decrees are followed.
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Official Languages
Related Traditions
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
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