Chrenada is a coastal kingdom containing both plains and mountainous areas, blessed with productive farmland but cursed with frequent raids by the Ryuven.
These raids have shaped Chrenadan history and culture, leading to a strong central government (a monarchy with an advising council) and state military. The state also employs mages to both research magic and its applications and to serve in the country's defense. This is the Great Circle, which has fifteen members ranked by color.
The capital city is Alham.
Slavery is a primary economic force in Chrenada, even more than in other nations. This is perhaps due to the economic pressures of frequent raids and the necessity of disposing of criminals in a society constantly under threat. A series of slave revolts led to harsher laws, including the banning of manumission, in an attempt to suppress uprisings. Slaves can be freed by a master's death-will, but they cannot purchase their own freedom as in
The Wakari Coast .
The institution is not universally supported, or at least not in its most strict form, but it has been difficult for dissenters to gain attention or traction while the Ryuven raids present an imminent threat.
The Laguna family has held the throne for two and a half centuries. There have been a few internal conflicts, often due to disputed inheritance between siblings or half-siblings, and this is the cause of the traditional wariness regarding royal bastards. Gelding was a historical precaution, though it has not been observed in recent years. Whether this is due to changing moral views and tolerances or the lack of any known royal bastards is unclear.
Chrenada maintains a large and well-organized standing army, equipped for rapid deployment in response to Ryuven raids. Due to the size of the country, soldiers are maintained at regularly spaced outposts. The head of the military is in Alham, housed in the Naziar palace-fortress complex.
The dominant faith in Chrenada is the monotheistic reverence of the Holy One, shared across several nations including The Wakari Coast
. Temples are found in cities and towns may have smaller houses for worship, but orthodoxy and devotion are inconsistent in the population.
The Gehrn are a militaristic cult which elevate their interest in warfare to a quasi-religious form. Their priests' robes are modeled on those seen in the Holy One's temples, though they have little overt connection to that faith. Some adherents will claim to follow both, without cognitive dissonance, though the Gehrn's devotion to war would appear to be at odds with the path of peace promoted by the temple priests.
The Gehrn claim a school of sacred ritual, though trained mages say there is no true magic in their practice.
Education is widely variable both regionally and across the tiers of society.
Tradespeople will generally teach their children first at home and then in the shop. Literacy is assumed. Similarly, farmers will teach their children at home or, if convenient in a village or town, share educational duties or hire teachers for formal education at a local school.
Specialists and craftspeople will take apprentices, either their own children or others. You might find a skilled artisan or tradesperson with a dozen learners.
While the ability to use magic tends to run in families, the ability might arise in any child, and in theory any child with potential can be trained in magic. More practically, however, the availability of such training is dependent upon location and a family's ability to afford to pay for a child's education instead of training him or her to help the family business. And people being people, there can be some prejudice against students or apprentices who come from rural areas or from less elite backgrounds.
Elysia Parma, the Silver Mage, faced these obstacles when she came from a rural community to the city of Alham to pursue a magical apprenticeship and a career in the Great Circle. There are many rumors about how she won her opportunity, and those were who present are not answering questions. Mage Parma notably established an open trial for those hopefuls who did not have connections to secure interviews with Circle mages taking apprentices.
Ariana Hazelrig, the current Black Mage, served her apprenticeship under her father, Mage Ewan Hazelrig, the White Mage. This is a common arrangement in mage families, but mage families are perforce small and uncommon; most children showing magical ability are sent outside of the family to a practicing mage for training.
The necessity of moving troops quickly over large distances gave rise to a well-developed system of roads. Chrenada has an overland network nearly as efficient as others' maritime travel.
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