The Kingdom of Banteave
"Ah, Banteave. A most glorious tapestry, sewn together with sinew and iron. Gorgeous to behold, and always one firm pull away from tearing at the seams."
In the past, before it was even called Banteave, the Untamed Antari Clans ruled over the land. They warred constantly over lands and personal slights, with no one true ruler emerging from among them. They sacrificed regularly to their gods, and the Druids of old commanded great sway among the halls of the clan chiefs. They were so fixated on petty infighting, they weren’t able to stop an invasion from the Seaward Coast. Raiders from distant Norvalled landed upon their shores hundreds of years ago, bringing with them their strange six-headed god they called Saints. The Untamed Clans could not withstand the onslaught, and soon the Banteavan Heartland was lost to the raiders who saw a land ripe for conquering. The Norvalled invaders declared these new lands to be their new home, and christened it Banteave. The Untamed Clans were forced back into The Antar Highlands, but there the fighting ground to a standstill. After ten years of brutal stalemate, a truce was signed; the Clans would be granted a modicum of self-rule over the blasted highlands, and in return one family among them would be granted lands and titles and a place among the noble houses of the new Banteavan nobility. Thus, House Antyre was founded, and has remained as a warden of the highlands ever since. They hold the most sway over the Untamed Clans beyond the reach of the Banteavan kingdom; still subjects, but only in the loosest of terms. In the Heartlands and the Seaward Coast, modern Banteavan culture is widespread. Churches to the Six Saints have crowded out the old monoliths and shrines to the Old Gods that were widely worshipped. The druids practice in seclusion, if at all, though they have found safety among the Untamed Clans in the north. But now something stirs within Banteave; a spark of discontent fanned into a growing conflagration. Had King Eadvard’s son survived his journey home from Dunefalle, the kingdom would have been assured a smooth succession. For all of Eadvard’s many faults and enemies, his son held next to none. Now the crown may pass to a mewling bastard babe borne of Eadvard’s union with a minor countess. For the first time in generations, the Dillestone’s grasp on the crown is dramatically weakened, and any of the other five houses could make a play for the right to rule Banteave.
Structure
The King of Banteave rules with absolute authority. He is supported by ten Dukes, who oversee multitudes of Counts and Barons.
The Kingdom of Banteave itself is divided into five major geographical regions: The Antar Highlands , The Backbone of Banteave , The Heartlands , The Seaward Coast and The Lowlands .
The King also maintains a Council to administer key parts of his government.
- The Archbishop of Banteave is always seated at council meetings, or is replaced by an appropriate representative of the Church if they cannot be in attendance.
- The Grand Marshal oversees the mustered troops and generals of Banteave.
- The Chief Steward administers the Royal Treasury
- The High Chancellor is in charge of the Crown's relations, handling diplomatic matters both foreign and dometic.
- The Keeper of Whispers is responsible for maintaining the Crown's network of spies and informants, coordinating clandestine acts and sniffing out any plots that may present a threat to the kingdom.
Culture
The majority of the people in Banteave are members of the Banteavan Culture . The further north you travel, however, the more you'll find those who identify as descendants and members of The Untamed Clans .
Public Agenda
Recovering from the Tambar Rebellion, the nobility of Banteave has been seeking to restore peace and stability to the land. Any signs of insurgency are to be met with an immediate, forceful response before they can spread.
History
The Banteavan kingdom was founded when the Norvalled Adventurers conquered the Antari Clans that lived in the Heartland of Banteave. Having pillaged the hamlets of the Heartland, the Norvalled invaders decided to settle the lands instead of moving on. Banteave was founded in the name of their invasion's war chief, Alaric Bantevar.
For further information about this conflict, read Invasion of the Norvalled Raiders.
Demography and Population
Roughly 90% of the population of Banteave live in rural settlements. They till the fields, chop the lumber, mine the Backbone and herd the cattle from dawn until dusk. Rough dirt roads connect the hamlets and townships, with weekly markets bringing the people together to trade, drink and gossip. The average population density is roughly 40-50 people per square mile.
Territories
Banteave stretches from the northern highlands, where the Antari Highlander clans still reign, down across the Backbone and through the Heartlands to the Seaward Coast and the Lowlands. There are regions of fertile plains, rolling hills, dense dark forests and sodden marshlands.
The majority of these lands still bear the markings from centuries past when the Antari Clans held sway; old temples and shrines, burial cairns, and altars to forgotten gods line the roadways, coastline and forest groves. The old clan settlements have been largely built over, though in the high hills or deepest forests some clan villages still remain, hewing to the Old Ways. In The Antar Highlands , much of the clan traditions remain to this day.
Military
Each noble of Banteave, be they a minor Count or a mighty Duke, is responsible for organizing their defences and providing a tribute of levies to their liege lord. Levies are drawn from the commonfolk, given rudimentary training and equipment, and sent to fight and die for their lord in a muddy field. The bulk of the Banteavan military is comprised of levies, but each noble usually keeps a retinue of men-at-arms on hand. Maintaining an entire standing professional army is expensive, but career soldiers still find ample work in Banteave selling their contracts to whichever nobles can pay in the hopes their service will one day be rewarded with land and a minor title themselves.
When called to war and willing to spend the coin, the nobles of Banteave can field an impressive host; footmen, pikemen, archers and ranks of both light and heavy cavalry are common sights upon the battlefield. Onagers and mangonels also appear when a siege is laid, and many of the nobles along the Seaward Coast maintain a small fleet of longships to repel a naval invasion before it can make landfall.
Technological Level
Equivalent to the High Medieval period; notable inventions present in Banteave include:
- Windmills
- Watermills
- Papermaking
- The spinning wheel
- Eyeglasses
- Astrolabes
- Magnetic compasses
- Printing (though not with moveable type)
- Horseshoes
- Chainmail
- Wine presses
- Crop rotation
- Oil paints
- Hourglasses
- Blast Furnaces
- Stonemasonry
Religion
The Six Saints are the State Religion of Banteave. They arrived centuries ago during a foreign conquest that unseated the Antari as rulers of the land. There are grand churches and shrines built to honour them, and the priesthood espouses the virtues of the saints; morality, vigilance, scholarship, craftsmanship, bravery and self-sacrifice. A seventh seat is always left open for the Seventh Saint, about which little is known save for a few fleeting references in passing texts. Some say the Seventh Saint has not yet been chosen. The deluded think it may be them.
Knights of Banteave are anointed by the clergy of the six to uphold their chivalric code; to uphold morality and decency, to be forever vigilant and guard the people, to know and recite your letters and poems, to care for arms and harness, to show bravery in the face of peril and to honour your liege and God in the face of certain death. The tithes paid to the church pay for the clergy and their ostentatious trappings.
Two other major religions hold sway in Banteave; worship of the Red Sisters is older, tied to the ancient Untamed Clans that ruled here five hundred years ago. The Blood Goddesses of Vengeance, War and Honour are still worshipped today, though only openly in the northern reaches of Antyre where the remnants of the Untamed Clans still hold sway. Their paganism has been routinely condemned by the church of the Six, and open worship is banned outside of Clan treaty lands. Nevertheless, sects persist in their reverence of the Red Sisters to this day within the Banteavan heartlands.
The newest religion to arrive on Banteaves shores is the cult of Resshe the Prophet. A sect imported from Dunefalle when House Luneste found a foothold within the politics of Banteave through careful marriage, expensive dowries and calculated negotiations, worship of Resshe has expanded beyond the Dunefallen nobles and taken root among the commonfolk. Many Resshian ceremonies revolve around ascending to a higher plane of consciousness through the use of dreamsmoke, and the Church of the Six begrudges such heretical practices but has held back from fully condemning them yet; to do so would risk the ire of the Dunefalle kingdom, with which the Banteavan lords are thoroughly entangled with.
Of the “smaller gods” of Banteave, we know the following. Midwives and farmers pray to the Mother of Mercy for healthy babes and good harvests. Travellers offer up quiet oaths to the Fiddler at the Crossroads around the campfire at night. Sailors offer up small sacrifices to Lameral, the Mare of the Deep to ensure their safe passage across the churning seas. Graveyards are adorned with the iconography of Carrion, the devourer of dead souls. Hunters speak quiet prayers to Fenris the Night Devourer to keep themselves safe from predators. Woodsmen and loggers pray to Verdegris, the green woodcutter, that they might return safe from their trip deep into the heart of Banteave. Lastly, every drunk has offered an oath or two to Pyx whenever they raise their full flagons.
This is what we know of the divine forces at work in Banteave.
Foreign Relations
The Kingdom of Banteave has established decent trade relations with distant Dunefalle , aided in part by the presence of House Luneste in their territory.
Across the backbone, however, relations with Ostamber remain strained. King Robern's pointless war of conquest against Ostamber ended in a humiliating defeat, but the Ostamber people have never forgiven Banteave for the years of brutal war waged to sate a King's ego and fill his coffers. Trade between the two nations is limited, and raiders from Ostamber occasionally make their way across the Backbone to harass settlements in Oake lands. What's more, it is said that the Tambar Rebellion against Church tithes in Banteave was incited by Ostamber agents.
As they are descended from Norvalled adventurers, Banteavans share much common ground with their ancestors across the sea. Visitors from Northvalled are common, though less so since their nation has crumbled into a bitter civil war between rival petty kings.
Agriculture & Industry
The main crops grown in Banteave are wheat, barley, oats and rye. Within the Heartland, sugar beets and fruit trees are also plentiful. In the Highlands, farmers make do with potatoes and other sturdy root vegetables. Both the Highlands and the Heartlands contain good grounds for grazing, and herds of cattle, sheep and goats are plentiful.
Banteave also boasts strong timber, which is felled by lumberjacks and sawn into proper planks for construction at the mills. The high hills of the Backbone are also rich with coal and ore, fuelling a great demand for miners to dig the depths, often in hazardous conditions.
Banteave also boasts strong timber, which is felled by lumberjacks and sawn into proper planks for construction at the mills. The high hills of the Backbone are also rich with coal and ore, fuelling a great demand for miners to dig the depths, often in hazardous conditions.
Trade & Transport
The humble donkey, oxen and horse-drawn cart are the primary way of moving goods across Banteave. River traders ply the waters of the Cynford that connects many of the bustling settlements in the Heartlands. For those too poor to afford travel by cart or horse, groups of travellers often band together for safety on the roads as they trudge from one town to the next. Inns and hostels are common sights, as are bandits and highwaymen seeking to relieve travellers of their riches (or their lives, if they prove to be too attached to their riches.)
Founding Date
997
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Demonym
Banteavan
Leader
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Traditional
Currency
The Banteavan Mark, minted in Copper, Silver and Gold.
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Official Languages
Related Ranks & Titles
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
