Aloria
Aloria is a mainly island nation in the western sea. Aloria proper consists of a large main island also called Aloria and a group of five smaller islands to the south known collectively as the Five Sisters; Maja, Haleyon, Merope, Taygata, and Eledra.
The Island of Aloria is divided into Five Baronies. The population is mostly along the shoes of the Island with the interior covered in mountains and great forests. Attempts to settle further inland have struggled over the years. In the first century this lead to great fighting with the creatures who make the interior their home. Roads cross it but can be hazardous to travel.
In the past decade, Aloria has conquered a set of city states that had been raiding its shipping. Aloria united this peninsula to the East under the former heir to the throne, the Black Prince. It is being run as a semi-independent Duchy under the King. These lands are commonly called the New Provinces.
Aloria was originally settled by refugees driven out of three city states destroyed by the Children of the Wind. In the desperate days, when the Children drove toward the Empire and the Disaster. They first swept the city states of Dhagoland Penninsula. When their cause became hopeless, the ships were sent out from the cities to find a new homeland. The separate states forged into a single country by the need to escape the Children.
Alorians tend to have a very independent point of view, they will come together in a crisis, but do not take easily to being forced to follow orders.
GOVERNMENT
Aloria is a constitutional Monarchy. The day to day government is run by the King and his appointees, with taxes and Kingdom Law confirmed by a two house Parliament. The King must be an heir of the body. By tradition, the King designates an Heir Primary and an Heir Secondary. If both were to predecease the King before he could designate another, the new Heir would need to be confirmed by 4 out of the 5 Barons (the 5 great houses are Baronies by tradition).
The Island is split into Five baronies, with the Capital and lands in sight of it, separately held as Royal Lands. The Baron’s run the Baronies with a lot of independence. While the citizens are loyal to the King and the Royal House, they are proud of their distinctions and the Baron’s jealously guard their independence.
The society of Aloria is made up of five classes. Royal (self defined), Noble (holds a title and can pass it on, children of a noble are noble, but do not pass it to their children without the title), Esquire (based on wealth), Freeman, and Serf. Freemen are citizens and have the vote. Serf is a position of incompetence. Children are usually considered this rank in society until their majority. A person could become a serf as a punishment for crimes or from debt. A serf is tied to a citizen and the citizen is responsible for them, in return the citizen controls their labor, feeds them, and has great lee way in treating them. Killing is looked down on, but again there is a lot of lee way given (proof of a crime being required with the assumption being it was not a crime by the responsible citizen). It has often become a matter of property law when a citizen has killed another’s serf.
Parliament is a two house body, with the upper chamber made up of members of the nobility, baronial seats and a number of lifetime royal appointments. The lower chamber is made up of popularly elected members. As members of the upper house must be nobility, members of the lower house must be of Esquire rank. Parliament is called by the King and is needed to confirm changes/additions to Kingdom Law and to institute taxes. The King and Parliament must agree on these for them to pass. There is a lower form of Law, Royal Law that the King can simply declare. By tradition it is subordinate to Kingdom Law.
MILITARY
Alorian Military tends towards private troops answering the call to service. The Royal Navy is traditionally the King’s to command and is the main permanent military service. Nobles will often maintain some ships, but as a total they make up a distinct minority and are mostly refitted trade ships. The army on the other hand is usually mainly a collection of nobles guards, with the Baron’s guards as a great majority and citizens answering the King’s call in time of war. There are a number of elite troops (led by the King’s Own) maintained and loyal to the King primarily.
The New Province forces are an exception to this with most of the troops made up of colonists formed by giving freehold lands to the conquering army. This has led to a significant force loyal to the Black Prince and thru him to the crown.
RELIGION
Most Alorians are followers of the Creator, but the church of Aloria does not hold itself below the Imperial Church. In practice they honor the Prima Cantatorum on the Holy Isle, but do not blindly serve his edicts. Many of the Empire think the Alorians are well meaning Heretics.
The church in Aloria is more of a confederation with very limited ecclesiastical authority beyond the gathering of the local faithful. Larger gatherings hold prestige but not rule over the others.
Aloria is more tolerant of followers of the Powers, though it is not thought well of in proper society to follow, only to be knowledgeable about their tenets.
Some of the Changed; Elves and Dwarves mainly, are allowed in the Kingdom, though there remains some distaste among the common folk. The Fae are oddly enough, the most accepted, even if rarely seen. The common folk routinely share “fairy tales” of the deeds and pranks played by the fair folk.
HISTORY
The Kingdom of Aloria came out of refugees fleeing the arrival of the Children of the Wind. This has led to a nation that happily raids the Children lands to keep the feud alive. There is even an oath among some older houses to retake the home land at some undefined time.
The Kingdom of Aloria has had a long running war of raids with the Sea Folk (the other primarily naval nation). Both sides relish sinking the other’s ships.
The Kingdom has had a turbulent time over the past two monarchs. The present King’s father was Mad King Rodric. The Mad King was (besides being stark raving crazy) a military genius and long lived. Thru a series of marriages, deaths and divorces, he ended up marrying into each of the five baronial families. He picked a war with Rhodan, then managed to bluff a peace and a Rhodanese bride with a war fleet off their capital.
When he passed, the time was ripe for a civil war, no clear heir and too many people with possible claims. The royal family as has been their tradition gathered at the Hozenstadt Estate to determine the heir. King Liam came out of the gathering. A minor son, barely in his majority at 15. The Black Prince, Rodric’s eldest son, who had commanded the Alorian navy, acquiesced to the decision against the advice of his friends and number of the other noble houses. The Black Prince became Liam’s heir until his first natural son, born 12 years ago.
Rodric left Edward (Black Prince) of the San Benedict line, Nathaniel (son from the San William family, died in the Rhodanese war), Caroline (daughter from San Cross) with a granddaughter Roberta and a grandson Giles, and a daughter Evelyn from the San Martine family, with a son Charles, daughter Gwendolyn from his Rhodanese Princess with five children: Harold, Mary, Esperanza, Robert, and Rose, and his youngest son, Liam.
Soon into the new King’s reign, a war with the five city states off the coast of Reeveswald, loomed. The City States, apparently thought to invade the Kingdom, after a series of daring raids had softened the navy up. The war did not go well for the city states and the peninsula up to the wald was conquered. Aloria set it up as a great barony, called the New Provinces in current lingo. The Black Prince has governed the land in the King’s name since then (for the past 12 years).
Type
National Territory
Included Locations
