Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States wrote:
Essential Details
Name of Realm: The Principality of Avion
Rulers: Hameld XII Hameldion, Duke of Avion, Duke of South Seher
Cultures and Races:
Avionians – Avionian Humans inhabit the region of Avion, east of Avencor. Avionians, or Avionii, generally keep to the outer farmlands, where mainly barley and hops are cultivated. There are some Avionians in the regional capital of Avion-upon-Oldo. They are divided into clans with fierce loyalties and rivalries.
Avencori – Hailing from the Old Kingdom, Avencori humans mainly inhabit the city of Avion, which at various times has served as a secondary harbour for the Old Kingdom’s interior. Avencori make up the bulk of the Convocati population in the city, as well as many more administrative functions, and they also maintain leading positions in the city’s guilds.
Goblar Avione – The goblin clans living in harmony with the Avionians, often in sister-clans that have been allied for generations or even centuries.
Dalberdi – The Seher Haflings, or Dalberdi in their own language, have a majority in the Dalberd Valley, and have significant villages outside. They trade with the surrounding human settlements, but have no interest in allowing humans into their midst, and as such form a largely independent community within the Duchy of Seher.
Seher – A generalised name for all the human groups originally from southern Seher, but all with distinct dialects. Two people from East and West Seher might not speak mutually intelligible languages and have vastly different customs, but their language has the same root and their cultures are at least somewhat bound. The eastern interior are home to low-intensity sheep herding, while the river valleys grow flax and food crop. The cities are largely based around the export of undyed or bleached fabrics and other crops.
Derrenels – Humans from the duchy of Derrenel to the south of Seher. The border between Seher and Derrenel has always been porous and undefined, and some villages stray the bounds between the two principalities.
Religion: Avione religion bears the influence of all who have inhabited the region; the Elves, the Avione humans, the later Avencori settlers, and even the Avione Goblar who live spread throughout the region. The main religious and cultural belief in Avion centres around ancestor worship; not just familial, but cultural. Some families with prestigious lineages are revered by others and seen as guided by their ancestors, while those ancestors are venerated as wise sages of the afterlife. Constant pressure lies on families to live up to their venerated ancestors, while other families and clans desperately want their place in the lime-light. This belief clashes somewhat with the religion of the Avencori still living in Avion-upon-Oldo.
History: Avion history, at least the written history, starts with the establishment of the Elvish Aavyone Monastery; a small fortified settlement built from the white-grey rocks of the distinctive Avione cliffs. These Elves sought solitude, and only had limited interactions with the Avione clansmen of the surrounding region, with whom they traded food in return for their particular brew of ale. The Elves of Aavyon also performed medicinal magic for those who sought their aid, although they had no interest in teaching humanity or caring for anyone outside the immediate surroundings. When the clansmen asked the Elves for their magical secrets, the Elves shut them out entirely.
It was this isolation that probably saved the monastery from the Elfenblight of 421, but it was to be wondered whether death would have been a preferable alternative. Instead, Elves from cities and villages all along the Dorvost Sea flocked to it for refuge, as their lands had become unliveable and the surrounding humans were unwilling to aid them, not even in return for the secrets of magic. While relations between Aavyone and the human clans of the region were cold, there was not the animosity that had resulted from a few hundred years of tyrannical rule. In 438, then, the humans of Avion received Elvish texts on magic. In return, humans would grow their food in service of the monastery.
During the Calima period the city of Avion would grow. With the Empire having been shattered, each successor state required their own magical colleges, and this led to a growth in the number of those institutions. This was the beginning of the Successor Renaissance, when the warring successor states tried to outdo one another in the scientific and magical fields as much as on the fields of battle. Avion came to house one of these new institutions; a broad College not focussed on any one field, but teaching in many different fields of what was then the Canon, now the Old Canon. It was during the Calima Renaissance that what we now know as Avion was built: Alchemists used their magic to create buildings directly into the cliff face. Gradually, the city moved from atop the cliff to into the cliff, giving the city it’s distinctive appearance.
The city rose in prominence until the Dragonwrath. Most of the elvish and human mages of any prominence rode to the aid of Firandar and his host, and were destroyed by the dragon Zaheriel. Having lost the cream of its magical crop, the Avion College was in no state to oppose the Convocation and join the Decapole Collegiate. Because of its mixed history, it remained firmly in Convocation hands. Not only that, but the Avion College had a questionable relationship with haematurgy, and while not officially taught at the college, the Diabolists of the Avione Clans were often-seen guests in the city, which cast doubt on the purity of that institution.
The city, having had a democratic and republican governance ever since its foundation by Elfenblight refugees, lost its practical independence after the Dragonwrath, when Calima slowly faded into nothingness. In its place came various human warlords that would form the kingdom of Avencor. Avion was conquered by Avencor two centuries into the Middle Season, by the aid of one of the Avionian clans. Their leader was made duke, and started the line of Hameldion. Hameld I married the sister of the king of Avencor, which cemented the eternal alliance between the kingdom and the city and its environs. Hameld I at first tried to despoil the city and destroy it to the last brick, taking away his prize to the tribal fiefdoms and monasteries of the hinterlands. But upon his arrival, the last of the half-elven city council presented him with a scroll. It is said that the contents of his scroll, a poem, so captured the emotions of Hameld that he could no longer destroy the city, and instead, he made it his capital, taking on many of the customs of the Elves and taking to learning their long and fabled history. Of course, much to the dismay of the Convocation, he would also take his council of Diabolists, and haematugry became a regular practice in the old Elvish city.
Hameld VII was spared the Noxtide due to his belief in his Ancestors, and Everlasting Life in the Beyond. Haematurgy too spared him the enticement of the Pale Lord, but when he passed away suddenly, his son Hameld VIII was less fortunate. He fell under the sway of the Noxtide, drawn to its incredible power and promises too good to be true. Under the Nocturnal Empire, the city of Avion would become a Shadow City; evil blood magic and vampirism of the Noxtide combined into a truly horrific science, and this is remembered as one of the darkest periods in history. The body of Hameld VIII is the only one of his family not to be buried in the Grand Tomb, deep inside the clifface. His destruction freed the city and had dire consequences, leading to the creation of the Blood Court: a ducal administration that kept the haematurgs in check and rooted out any signs of abnormal or heretical research, while counselling the duke on all matters mystical.
It was on the death-day of Hameld XI, and in his honour, that a bull was sacrificed inside the city of Avion. Its blood splattered on one of the Avione banners, and on its crest, created a stain in the form of Old Avencor. Both Diabolists and Seers of the College debated the portents, but they all agreed as to its meaning: the Northern Bull would aid Avion in uniting the whole of former Avencor under its rule. While the Seers warned that this would be a future of blood, the Diabolists informed the new duke Hameld XII that this future of blood would be their future, a future for their people, and a chance for him to live up to his ancestors.
After forging a secret alliance with Nekhur, and waiting until the former invaded Seher, the new duke of Avion marched his banners north, marching along the Royal Road through Avencor into Seher, the Old Kingdom being in no position to stop its vassal from its undertaking. The Duke of Avion took no Seers or Convication mages in his entourage, rather depending entirely on his most practiced Diabolists. At first the nations of Seher did not take this invasion seriously. The first towns fell without much opposition, but the army would crumble under the first opposition. They were amazed when Hameld XII destroyed the army of Cadorn at the battle of the Riverbend, where the smaller Ducal force defeated the trained Cadorn army. Hameld XII was quick to attribute his victory over the prestigious Cadorn army to blood magic. More accurately, it can be said that most of the practiced army of Cadorn had moved against Nekhur, where it was faring better. Moreover, the ducal army had outmanoeuvred the Cadorn force, practically placing it at an advantage before the battle had ever been fought.
The defeat of Cadorn and the subsequent sack of the city made a clear message to the rest of Seher. When Nekhur defeated the Seher alliance at the battle of Belhm, killing or capturing most of the force, there was little to hold Hameld XII back. The southern Seher forces, separated from Nekhur by a river, decided to surrender to the Duke instead, hoping to gain more favourable terms. In this manner, Hameld XII managed to enrich himself tremendously, while expanding his realm tenfold. He was crowned duke of Seher soon after.
However, Seher is a difficult beast to control. The Duke has not yet once returned to Avion; instead, traveling from city to city with his army to keep his new vassals in line. Even though they elected Avion over Nekhur, their dismay over the sudden Avione attack is apparent, and Hameld is forced to use all his diplomacy, his wit, and his force of arms against those who would oppose him, ruling southern Seher with an iron fist. Meanwhile, the blood mages at his behest grow evermore in power, granting Hameld the nickname ‘Lord of Blood and Iron’, a title which he has taken upon himself with pride. In the distance, Avion, left in the capable hands of Hameld’s younger brother Hemvald, grows more and more restless, the even hand of Hemvald soliciting treasonous whispers in the ancient city.
Meanwhile, Hameld XII dreams of more. The prophecy foretold that he would rule Avencor, not Seher. Strengthened by his victory over Seher, and with his army bolstered, he seeks to re-establish the Old Kingdom of Avencor to its former glory, with its capital at Avion. He desires a place along the greatest in history, and wants his kingdom to be counted among the greatest of the Southern Realms. Knowing that Nekhur cannot be trusted, he hopes to achieve a favourable position to ally himself with the greater powers, should the Bull of the North ever come south. In the meanwhile, he is content to milk his alliance for all that it is worth, and still seeks the Silver Crown of his own kingdom.
Assets
Notable Cities: Avion, Cadorn
Economy: The economy of the city of Avion is mostly in travel, export and manufacture. The city and its college are a destination for scholarly travellers in the area, especially from the courts of former Avencor. The city exports mostly beer and ale, as well as some food frown in its hinterlands. The beer is brewed by the monasteries of the hinterland, made from local barley and hops.
Population: Avion is comparable to Italian city states, while Seher is more comparable to northern England or early medieval France.
Military
Command: The duke is traditionally and practically the head of his own army. The cities have their own civil defence forces, but are also forced to provide levies and equipment for the ducal army if called upon. The core of the Ducal retinue is formed by knights, although a lack of horses means many of these knights fight on foot, and the ducal army needs mercenary horsemen and light horsemen to beef up cavalry numbers. These knights act as officers for the various banners of levies that are called upon when the duke so requests; and when that happens, the duke makes ad hoc arrangements for leadership. Currently, the army has been under banners for almost a full year.
Strength: I am having severe trouble with this, and I cannot think of a reasonable number. Will get back to this.
Diplomatic Relations
Interests: Uniting the Old Kingdom of Avencor under the Avion banner, and claiming its kingship for his dynasty.
Rivals: Avencor, the other breakway vassals, eventually Nekhur.
Other Information
Location: 1 and 1B, Avion
The city of Avion: http://corwyn.wdfiles.com/local--files/ ... KOMAND.jpg
Essential Details
Name of House: The House Hameldion
Leader: Hameld XII Hameldion (in Seher), Hemvald Hameldion (in Avion, temporarily)
Family Members:
Hameld XII Hameldion, duke of Avion, duke of Seher
Hemvald Hameldion, Princely Count, Regent of Avion
Ladeleine Hameldion, Princely Countess, Envoy
Demnane Hameldion, Dowager Duchess
History: The Histories of Avion
Assets
Home: Hameld's Keep in northern Avion, Mabrod House in Avion proper
Fiefs: Duchy of Avion, County of Mabrod, Duchy of Seher
Retinue: The Haeman Guard, a group of hand-picked knights both posessing ancestral Blood Weapons (weapons forged from the iron of the blood of Man) and training in haematurgy, as well as having some loyalty to the House Hameldion. A band of 30 form the Haeman Guard, and to be picked for the position is an incredible honour.
Essential Details
Name of Organization: The Corpus Haematurgical, colloquially known as the 'Blood Court'
Leader(s): Officially Hameld XII, but practically his tasks as chair of the High Council of the Corpus are perfomed by the Secretary of the High Council, who sets the agenda and decides when meetings are to be held, and acts as vice chair. This structure used to be far more flexible, but after the Noxtide the organisation of the Corpus was codified in the Corpus Codifex. This united all the representatives of the different counties of Avion into one body, which governed their own matters and codices.
Description: The Corpus Haematurgical is the collection of officially sanctioned Blood Mages, or Diabolists, in Avion. It used to be a purely academic description, as the organisation of the Corpus was decentralised at best, an nonexistant at worst. Back in the Olden Days, before the kingdom of Avencor conquered Avion, the various clans of Blood Mages warred with one another, and would often sacrifice members of the other clans in horrific rituals. Hameld I first united the different clans of mages in his push to capture the city of Avion, and while the conflicts remained, the Corpus generally had no internal wars as such. Although, there was an incredibly strict discipline, and every other offence was punished by the death penalty by manner of human sacrifice.
Nowadays, after the Reforms of duchess Haema I Hameldion, the Blood Mages form an organisation akin to the Convocation. While their magic is not taught inside the city, due to the complaints of the Convocation, the schools outside the city hold great influence in the running of the duchy itself. They perform experiments and teach the noble houses of the duchy in the arts of haematurgy, while also operating the Great Forge.
Assets: The Blood Court has its main base in the Castle Hearting, a few hours travel from the city of Avion, but they uphold various temples and castles throughout the land, as well as operating from the castles of the Avione nobility.
Strength: (I.e. Employees, soldiers, ships, etc.)
Relations:
Name: The Red Armour of Avion
Image or Description: https://www.princearmory.com/wp-content ... e-bg04.png
Function: Protect its wearer from common magical attacks, as well as give physical enhancement to the person wearing it
Users: It is held and used by Hemald XII Hameldion and was handed down from generation to generation. It requires the Blood of Hameld in your veins to be able to properly use it, and it requires it wearer to be practiced in the arts of the Diabolists
Creation: While Blood Magic had been practiced in Avion for Time Immeasurable, this was and still is the most advanced form of the art. Imbuing weapons and armour with magic is nothing new, of course, as it has been done since the days of Firumbar. And imbuing weapons with Blood Magic is older than history. However, the Red Armour of Avion has not simply been imbued with Blood Magic: it has been forged from iron obtained from the blood of 2000 victims; namely those among the living who took the side of Hameld VIII during the Noxtide. While Hameld's own blood was blackened and corrupted, many of his followers, powerful mages, were still among the living. After the purge of Avion their red blood was collected and the iron and carbon required was obtained from it, and used to forge a magical set of plate armour, as a constant reminder to those who would join the ranks of the Pale Lord and oppose the Duke of Avion. However, it was also a message from the Diabolists at the Blood Court that they were not to be trifled with, and that they held great power behind the Ducal throne. The suit was forged by Haema Hameldion, the oldest of three daughters of Hameld VIII.
Purpose: Hameld XII wants to wear it on the many campaigns he envisions himself undertaking, but as the suit grows old, and he growns more ambitious, he might want to reforge it sooner rather than later, at least before he accepts the Silver Crown.
Name: The Sword of the Thousand
Image or Description:
(Image)
Function: The magic in the sword makes it easier to wield: feeling lighter to the user, but dealing more damage to the opponent. Its magic also acts like a kind of poison to those not of the Blood of Hameld; small cuts become irritated and inflamed, larger cuts might lead to disease, or might make wounds impossible to fully heal without magical means.
Users: It is the ancestral sword of Hameld XII and his kin.
Creation: It was created by the same process as the Red Armour, though it requires constant 'updating' with blood magic, since its aggressive nature makes it wear out easily.
Purpose: Hameld XII wants the Sword of the Thousand to become a microcosm of his victories: fuelled by the enemies whom he defeated, and symbolising his conquests in the Book of the Blade.
Hey, with the IC online, could you have a look at my app? I am still looking at it and making tweaks, but this is the basis.
