Aruël
The great kingdom of Aruël! Long may it last!
Aruël roughly translates to "the southern land" in the common tongue of the humans. This is however a misnomer, because Aruëls position on Noria is actually far more northern than anyone from Aruël or the Wildlands might guess.
Structure
Aruël is a monarchy backed by a strong faith. The King is ruler over all citizens. As a feudal society, all land within the realm belongs to the king, who transfers the ownership out to nobles, which can in turn loan it to serfs for agriculture and livestock. A noble is defined by the fact of owning land not by birth and blood, although noble families rarely lose their lands and as such do pass on their nobility to their descendents. Below the nobility are all citizens, which are defined as anyone who believes in the Trinity and is born to at least one citizen themselves, although the latter part of this requirement has been known to be overlooked in certain cases.
Below the citizens there are the orcs, which while being allowed to work and live within the borders, enjoy fewer rights than full citizens and are widely seen as lesser people.
With the rights of King and nobility of owning land and collecting its taxes, there are three responsibilities which are expected, those being protecting the citizens of the land from danger, enforcing the law and backing the country in the rare case of war. Below the nobility is a large group of Knights, which are technically not noble themselves, but can eventually be granted land if they live long enough and serve to a good standard.
Culture
Aruëlian culture is relatively traditional and set in its ways. Faith is a important aspect of life and while individualism is valued, the community and its prosperity are of a higher importance. Aruëlians are fiercely loyal to family and community and are slow to forget slights against their kin.
Public Agenda
Since the ascension of King Felipe III the country is in a period of relative peace and stability. The King has mostly been working at maintaining this peace, keeping good relations with the Elves of Vasylana. The northern lords of Aruël however have some ambitions of their own. With small scale invasions and occupations they continue to expand the border to the north, gaining more influence as they conquer the Aduëlian Tribes that live there.
Assets
While there are some significant silver deposits found in the lower parts of the Razortooth Mountains, Aruëls main assets are both its population and the fruits of the land, most famously grain, wine and cloth, which can be grown year round due to the mild winters. The forges along the Morin also produce high quality steel, which is also exported by traders to other cultures on distant shores.
History
The short history of Aruël begins roughly 500 years ago, with the founding of the country by St. Elian of the new faith of The Trinity of Noria, who crowned the first king Vorionde and declared the then small town of Tennet as capital. Since then, twelve more Kings have come and gone. Their descendent King FelipeI III of Aruël is currently ruling the country and has done so for more than three decades. For more details see the Timeline of Eastern Noria.
Demography and Population
Aruëls populations is mainly agrarian and as a result, the north is far less populated than the south.
In total around 6 million people live within Aruëls borders, though not all of them are citizens. Roughly 3 out of 4 people live south of the river Morin even though the size (see below) of the lands south of the Morin are only around a third of the countries land mass.
The populations are relatively stable, with a slight potential for growth in the south. There is also currently a shift in population density towards the larger cities, as most arable land has already been claimed/loaned out to farmers. The largest cities, Tennet and Frenia, each house around 30 thousand permanent residents, with some fluctuation.
Although the majority of Aruëls populace are human, around a third (2 million) are Orcs, with some being pureblooded orcs, but most being halfbreeds. Orcs are found more often in cities and in settlements with a high demand for menial labour.
Territories
Aruël has by this point claimed almost all of the mid-eastern half of Noria. Its territory stretches from the coast on the east to the mountains on the west. The Coast is divided into the the storm coast to the north, which is plagued by strong winds and deceptive currents that threaten to pull entire ships into the depth and high cliffs as you travel north, and into Livanons Coast to the south, which features beautiful beaches and far reaching dunes. The rest of Aruël is split in a similar fashion. South of the Morin the lands are far more fertile and less hilly than north of it. In fact the lands north of the Morin seem to be very poor farmland in total, with only small patches of lands bearing any form of crops. The hills of the north are also more likely to be infested by bandits, militant orcs and the occasional Ogre.
To the south, the kingdom is constrained by both the Razortooth Mountains and the Forest of Vasylana. The Aruëlian kings have tried expanding into both, but in both cases were met with vicious resistance and guerilla warfare by the Elves of Thulion and the Orcs of the Norian Mountains, while the problem were exacerbated by the fact that Aruëls strongest military advantage, the Knights, could not be used effectively. Since four generations the Kings have no longer tried any expansion to the south and a truce with both neighbors now exists.
The north however is a different story. There the Aruëlian lords regularily expand their border by conquering smaller Tribes of Aduël. This slow conquest is done in waves and sometimes delayed by decades between expansions. Newly conquered people are offered full citizenship if they accept their new rulers and accept the true faith. This conquest has currently advanced roughly a hundred miles north of Northwatch and in someplaces reaches to the latitude of Dorralia. Assimilation is slow and first generations of conquered Aduëlian still remember and yearn for their freedom.
Military
The most powerful advantage Aruël has over its neighbors is the riding Knight, a form of combat which was developed early into Aruëlian expansion and has since been almost perfected. Apart from the knights, for which fighting for lord and land is their profession, the Aruëlian military is only gathered in times of war and mainly consists of what the citizens can afford. The northern Aruëlians are usually proficient with spears of different sorts even when not in the saddle, while some of the southernmost Aruëlians have picked up archery from the Elves of Vasylana. The nobles are trained in leadership and form the commanders of the army.
Aruël used to have a standing army of professional soldiers in the past, but in the times of peace of the last century, the cost of such an army far outweighed its quick response time, and was therefore was disbanded.
Religion
The official faith of Aruël is the faith of the Trinity of Noria, which is as interlinked with the notion of the kingdom as the ruling family itself if not more. As a result it is the only faith that is legal to be practiced. Some local beliefs such as the orc faith of Tai'San, the druidic Shepherds faith and the belief of the Northern Ancestors, which is the shamanic faith of the Aduëlian Tribes, are occasionally held, but open worship is forbidden under exile, which is rigorously enforced by the crown and faith.
The church of the Trinity holds tremendous influence on both the politics and the populace. The archbishops of the church are the highest legislators of Aruël and council to the King, while the priests in every village hold great sway over public opinion.
Foreign Relations
Aruël has three major neighbors with which it must arrange itself. First and foremost are the Orcs of the Norian Mountains, which view the lands of the kingdom as their ancestral birthright. Despite this, most orcs seem to have accepted Aruëlian rule by this point and focus on integrating themselves in the country. Occasionally there are smaller raids from the mountains, where more militant orcs have formed tribes.
Second are the elves of Vasylana, which do not actively intermingle with Aruël. The Elves keep to their forest and Aruël does no longer try to expand southwards as per the pact of Tennet four generations ago.
Third are the Aduëlian Tribes, which could potentially pose a threat to their southern neighbors, but because the tribes are generally occupied with infighting and feuds between each other, they do not pose a realistic threat to Aruëls safety.
Other than that there are two rare interactions, which do not largely influence Aruël (perhaps yet). The north of the Stormcoast is home to Merpeople, which occasionally attack fishing boats or small ships, but otherwise keep to themselves. Additionally, very recently Dwarves have emerged from the tunnels under Dornspring and laid claim to the city below the rock. The dwarves have not declared war of Aruël yet and they outnumbered the human inhabitants of Dornspring, which is why their claim was tolerated, for now.
For King and St. Elian!
Founding Date
1st of Semortine 1 AR
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Demonym
Aruëlian
Leader
Ruling Organization
Leader Title
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Theocratic
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Mixed economy
Currency
Aruël uses a centralized minting system which produces three types of coins.
- Coppers are the smalles denomination and used mainly for small purchases, if at all. Coppers exist in both 1 and 5 denominations. 10 Copper make one Silver.
- Silvers are the main coinage used, due to the relative abundance of silver deposits in the mines near Tennet. Silvers are used for buying food, tools, clothing weapons and everything in between. There are 1, 5, 10 and 25 silver pieces. 100 Silver make one Gold
- Golds are rare and valuable coins and only used in purchases of large sums and as a result mainly used by nobility. Golds only exist in a denomination of 1. A kg of Gold weighs and is roughly the same value of 100 Gold.
Legislative Body
The laws are made by the three archbishops of The Trinity and their Clergy. New laws may be submitted by any citizen of the state, but generally are only considered if there is urgent reason for their existence or new religious doctrine demands their existence.
Judicial Body
The highest Judge of the Country its the current King, although they rarely see to any laws themselves. The main work is done by the Judge appointed to a settlement of a large enough size by the King. They are only beholden to the crown themselves in an attempt to hold the ruling aristocracy of the Settlement accountable.
Executive Body
The law has two arms in Aruël. First any settlement has a guard usually payed for and commanded by the local nobility. For any crimes of religious nature, The Order of the Trinity will likely be sent to step in.
Official State Religion
Official Languages
Neighboring Nations
Related Ethnicities
Peace by diplomatic pact
Both the Elves and the Aruëlians peacefully coexist but do not interact on any major scale. There is some trade between elves and settlements south of Tennet.
Fragile truce
Orcs work jobs within Aruël and are tolerated as inferior workers
de facto war
Agressive expansion from Aruël with some resistance from Aduëlian tribes
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