Tordal
A powerful military state influenced by the Watchers of the Wall and Dawnbringers.
Knights, fair maidens, heroic adventures, and righteous quests—these are the legends of old Tordal, But the once-powerful empire has fallen from its former glory. Now rival nobles battle each other with bitter knights and proxy armies for personal power rather than honor. A smoldering truce with Savaria again threatens to ignite into war, and Tordal's daughter states look down upon her with contempt. Yet there is still greatness in Tordal; a stone foundation under the flaking gold adornments. Sons and daughters of forgotten royal bloodlines hear change on the wind—but is it the whisper of greatness to come, or the death rattle of an empire long past its prime?
Structure
Among the numerous noble titles conferred upon Taldan citizens there remain several ranks which retain a specific function within the governance of the state. While the meanings and grandeur of these titles may change over generations, the current government recognizes the following noble titles in hierarchy from greatest to least.
Royalty
Tordal's royal class is comprised of dynasty-inheriting houses, most of which trace their lineages back to one emperor or another. Its members hold byzantine titles such as Patrician, Magister, Proconsoul, Mandator, Exarch, Viceroy, Duke, and others. A large number of scholars in the Beltun Library keep and update the genealogical records, as each title has a subtle place in the hierarchy of the empire. In the history of Todal, the royalty have contributed to the greatness of its emperors, but also to their downfalls. The Emperor can raise a Citizen or Senator of the empire up to royalty by bestowing a title and wealth, but does so only once a year in a huge celebration at the Imperial Palace.- Grand Duke: Ruler of a prefecture. This title is limited to a maximum of 62 grand dukes; 12 grand high dukes who rule the formally recognized prefectures, and 50 lesser grand dukes whose lands have been lost or subsumed by other prefectures over time.
- Governor: Appointees of the Crown who rule a province. Many governors also bear the title of lesser grand duke.
- Duke: Landed dukes administer a duchy within a prefecture and report to the grand duke thereof. Dukes who have not been conferred land, but serve the grand duke, are referred to as "attending dukes".
- Senator: All senators must bear another noble title in order to be installed in the Senate. All senators may vote in the Senate.
- Marquess: Serves as the guard of a wilderness or border region and typically has a standing army to defend this region.
- Count/Earl: Both counts and earls administer a county within a duchy. These titles are generally equivalent in rank.
- Landgrave: Similar in function to the role of Marquess, the landgrave administers an unsettled, but important, tract of land. Landgraves do not typically command an army to defend their region, and thus are seen as lesser than a marquess.
- Baron: Landed barons rule large territories known as a barony. A barony may contain a significant portion of land with numerous villages, or a large city. Barons who do not administer a barony often serve as advisors to the Crown.
- Baronet: A lesser assistant to a Baron who carries out many of the mundane administrative tasks in the barony.
- Viscount: Oversees a portion of a county, typically a couple of small villages and their connecting roads.
- Tribune: Typically serves as mayor and justice for a community, such as a village or a neighborhood within a larger city. This is often an elected position, though it may be conferred upon an individual for political reasons. Tribunes usually report to Barons.
- Lord: A ruler of a specific land. Lords often report to barons, though occasionally they report to a viscount.
- Knight: The lowest rank among Taldan nobles. Typically children of nobles are conferred this title first, especially those with military service.
Senatorial class
Tordal's senatorial class consists of the hereditary members of the senate, the governors of Tordal's prefectures, and various heads of the bureaucracy. With exceptionally good work and long loyalty to the empire, a citizen can achieve a title in the senatorial class. Social status for both royalty and senators is tied to their lavish beards, which by law only they can legally grow (leading to them being called the "bearded"). Greater, more extravagant beards are a sign of a higher status.The Unbearded
The massive underclass of "the unbearded" make up 99% of Taldor's population. They are Merchants , craftsmen, day Laborers, dock workers, vagabonds, soldiers, Sailors, and so on. Taldor's crushing taxes and the policies of the ruling class regarding the rights of citizens keep the unbearded in poverty. Careful advances of key citizens from the ranks of the unbearded keep their compatriots ever hopeful that after hard work and long loyalty, they might join the ranks of the bearded. Taldor's military and civil service usually offers such a way of advancement, and because of that the branches of the military (the Tordic Cavalry, Tordic Phalanx, and Tordic Navy) are loyal and strong. In the countryside, most of Taldor's poor live as serfs, farmers, or craftsmen, slaves to their lords or prefecture governors. Even worse, when their lords or governors send their soldiers against one another, the poor unbearded are usually caught in between and suffer greatly.Culture
Combat
The Falcata is the traditional weapon of Tordal, and Tordic duelists train in a form of falcata and Buckler combat known as rondelero.Assets
Tordic Knights can be recognized by their white and silver armor, and their quartered shields. The mage-smiths of Tabat have perfected the art of blending fine steel and enchanted glass into weapons that are both beautiful and deadly. Tordic Glazeplate is stained with Magically infused and enchanted to deflect blows. Only elite knights are entrusted with these martial works of art. Stained glass is predominant in all artistic expressions. Battle Priests of Watchers of the Wall march with the army and Strix form their own airborne companies.
Fauna
After millennia of settlement, the heartland of Tordal is largely free of dangerous beasts and monsters, although the druid-controlled Hitawaka Forest is still home to Gnome, Ettercaps, and numerous fey.History
Birth
The people of this land were descendants of Mariana who built a small settlement where the capital of Tabat now stands. They intermarried with the local human tribes (whose descendants would become known as Beltuns) and began trading with the Yamoto tribes further east. Emerging from prehistory, the Belltun Empire, a militaristic and expansionist nation, collapsed. From its ashes would rise Tordal. The knight Storten Bearskin, in exile since an evil mage conquered his homeland of Qarhehia, founded Tordal at the spot of the blighted city of Belfosa which he took to be a perfect place to implement his gathered wisdom and philosophies. He took up the reins of the great Horse Civilization and guided the ancestors of Tordal out of the ruins of the once-great Belltun Empire. Storten's son Tabat was named the prince of Belfosa upon Bearskin's Death. Using his tactical prowess, superior forces, and uncanny luck, Tabat then led his troops in a 12-year-long war of conquest beginning in -1293 AR that transformed his title in Belfosa to a fledgling unified nation of city-states. He first attacked the larger cities along the Inner Sea coast that posed the greatest threat. Once he had secured their allegiance and resources, he turned his attention on the more distant settlements of the area. He then declared his new nation as the Principalities of Tordal, ruling over an area that stretched across the Northern coast of Saskhij. The Principalities of Tordal became an empire in, with Tabat the Great crowned as First Emperor. His name has been granted to his line and Belfosa was rechristened Tabat when he passed. The humble principality grew into an empire that streatched across the continent of Saskhij; in fact many nations on Gradus trace their orgins back to the Empire of Tordal.Slow decline
By the beginning of the fourth millennium AR, the Empire of Taldor dominated the Inner Sea region, controlling all of the northern shores of the Inner Sea. Its government soon bloated to the point where its byzantine bureaucracy numbered in the tens of thousands, and its territory was too large to control. Corruption spread throughout the government, and its ruling class became more interested in pursuing their decadent pleasures than good governance. Responding to this growing indifference, those furthest from the capital city of Tabat began to revolt. Taldor's military responded with brute force to quell these uprisings, leading to further discontent and unrest.Demography and Population
The Tordic people are a mixture of Eurabi and Marianan blood. Tordic, by and large, have light brown hair and bronzed skin. Men of noble birth favor beards, while women commonly wear elaborate wigs; both beards and wigs are often extravagantly decorated. The language of the Tordic people is Common.
Tordic are decadent bon vivants, favoring rich foods, ornate attire, and jeweled accoutrements for even the most minor of casual affairs. To a Tordic, appearance is an expression of power, and a keen sense of fashion represents a keen mind. Their appreciation for the arts extends beyond fashion and painting, many Tordic dabbling in wizardry, dueling, and the murky strategies of politics and war. A Tordic mind, when raised to ire, is a dangerous thing, and Tords believe that the rest of Gradus is soon to receive a painful reminder of this timeless fact.
Territories
Tordal was once a land filled with lush forests but all that remains of the original woodlands is the druid-protected Hitawaka Forest in the north. Elsewhere, the trees have been replaced by grasslands and low scrub growth, which in the southern part of the country can generate tumblefires. During the height of the empire, much of this expanse was populated by small settlements, each interconnected by a series of roads and canals. With Taldor's decline, however, many of these small communities have been abandoned. Roads have been reclaimed by nature, and the canal system has fallen into disrepair.
Military
Even though Tordal's armed forces no longer possess the power and prestige of the Armies of Exploration of the past, they are nevertheless powerful organizations. They are divided into the Tordic Cavalry , the Tordic Phalanx, and the Tordic Navy, and are commanded by High Strategos Pythar Maximus. The most notorious, however, are the Lion's Claws, who specialize in subterfuge and urban combat, and are often recruited from Tabat's best bardic colleges.
Religion
The people of Tordal worship a wide range of deities, but among the major gods prefer those who are generally associated with the Tordic people: Grand Architect, Wanderer, Keeper of Secrets, and Lady of Love. The worship of Savored Sting and the controversial (because she is associated with Rove) and Sun Maiden are also popular. The cult of Lord of Strength (a demigod who began as a Tordic mortal) is also beginning to spread.
Foreign Relations
Tordal sees Kanmar as the key to reinvigorating its empire. Given that Kanmar has never fallen by siege, the emperor directs Tordic agents to infiltrate Kanmar and one day merge it quietly with the empire. Kanmar, like Saol, does not consider Tordal to be a serious threat. Indeed, the two nations are generally strong allies and trading partners, at least officially.
Tordic Empire Nation 18
- Alignment- White
- Government- Empire.
- Other Characteristics TBD
- Primary Exports TBD
- Primary Imports TBD
- Allies TBD
- Enemies TBD
- Threats TBD
Founding Date
-5952
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Predecessor Organization
Demonym
Tordalan
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Crowned Republic
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Mixed economy
Executive Body
Taldor is ruled by the Tordic Emperor, a hereditary title. The current Emperor, Steven III, has only one heir, his daughter Princess Europa. Tordal has a decadent noble class, bloated with titles, short-sighted and lethargic. Tordal's bureaucracy is headed by the senatorial class. Much of the government management is left in the hands of the senatorial class, who constantly argue over jurisdiction while fighting for position in the nation's vast and complex bureaucracy. Greed and lack of trust are the hallmarks of Tordic politics, with assassination and betrayal the preferred methods of advancement.
Unwilling to trust his life to Tordic with dubious political ties and mixed loyalties, the Emperor is zealously served by the Vovundi Band. This hand-picked retinue from Reirakasu are handsomely paid and care only for their oath and duty to the crown.
The Seven Great Houses
The Seven houses represent the seven most powerful families in Tordal.- House Capulet
- House Advent
- House Crag
- House Rosebloom
- House Talarm
- House Denzir
- House Jerov
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Ethnicities
Wary Allies
Augustia and Tordal share a peace right now, backed by their enormous navies, but the emperor still considers Augustia a part of the empire and sees the nation of freedom-lovers as a child who lost its way. The two nations have a cautious but amicable relationship and Augustian agents try to avoid pushing their democratic ideologies too strongly while in Tordal.
Wary Allies
Truce
Undeclared War
Kilisnya and its parent state, Rove, are hated in Tordal. Tords watched as Qadira occupied southern Taldor for almost 500 years, enslaved the city of Stokken, put nearly every settlement in the Kotobetsu Plain to the torch, and distracted the empire at a crucial moment with an invasion, allowing Saol to secede in the Even-Tongued Conquest. At nominal peace for the last century, Tordal now uses the Stokk Corsairs to plague all Rovian shipping from Chau Ca Ba to Muzayrif, and both nations still raid each other's shipping lanes.
Undeclared War
Kilisnya and its parent state, Rove, are hated in Tordal. Tords watched as Qadira occupied southern Taldor for almost 500 years, enslaved the city of Stokken, put nearly every settlement in the Kotobetsu Plain to the torch, and distracted the empire at a crucial moment with an invasion, allowing Saol to secede in the Even-Tongued Conquest. At nominal peace for the last century, Tordal now uses the Stokk Corsairs to plague all Rovian shipping from Chau Ca Ba to Muzayrif, and both nations still raid each other's shipping lanes.
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Comments
Author's Notes
Adapted From pathfinderwiki- Taldor