The Colum Kingdom
Art Credit: "Market place" by Lee B, leebdraw, https://www.artstation.com/leebdraw
Demographics
Colum is, by a very wide margin, majority Human populated. Though its draw, size, wealth, and geographical location provide for a hugely diverse population in every manner of the word, Colum still houses nearly 5 and a half million humans. In quickly decreasing proportions, Colum is also called home by many Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, Dragonborn, and more. The middle country is also where the richest nobles and business owners in Terisirae gather, an economic hub that is truly unmatched. Inequities have always been and remain a pressing social issue as the proportion of impoverished citizens rises every year, the common laborer is unable to keep up with increasing living expenses and a government budget that soars every year to fund countermeasures against Ob-2. The biggest division is between laborers--everyone from carpenters or masons to rune forgers or blacksmiths--and adventurers. Colum is home to almost 35% of all incorporated adventurers guilds in Terisirae, the largest by far in the world. There are many policies that have been enacted under the most recent Queen to ensure and incentivize the founding of more guilds every year and to attract potentially talented adventurers into the capital where the best guilds are located.
Increasing disunity grows between laborers, merchants, and the newly forming adventurer class that sees better pay each year and relaxed tax policies to encourage their growth.
Government
The Colum Protectorate functions as both a legislative and judicial body. A council of 27 elected officials from every municipality in Terisirae, with the exception of Spirix. The council was previously much smaller, but after the fall of The Commonwealth, new officials were brought in to represent large settlements individually. Candidates are selected by the citizens of each area but the crown of Colum has the final say on who from the pool will be appointed to which positions.
The Protectorate works directly with the crown, an arm of the kingdom's living royalty to enact their vision in ways that the council can agree will be successful and efficient. Colum itself is led entirely by its sitting monarch and their immediate family, a monarchy that has the final say on all policies, new and old.
Defences
Colum has hundreds of years of protection that have been added to its borders, like a great tree with many rings. The initial barriers were built around its central position, where Castle Vedrun currently stands, and every time the state became so large it needed to add more buildings and living spaces to its area, a ring of walls and defenses were erected. Even with its impressive physical defenses, Colum's most important assets in terms of its defense are its political alliances and foreign relationships. The nearby Kingcardine and Waleah have a history of supporting Colum, and vice-versa, laying the foundation for highly beneficial and symbiotic relationships.
During events such as The Flare, these relationships proved more valuable than any stone wall or sword. The Colum Protectorate tries to remember such lessons and pass them on to each new generation of monarchy, like the young Cedrius, who was crowned in 1139 Y.E. at just 22 years old.
Industry & Trade
Colum's central position advantages it greatly in terms of trade. It has access to the great mineral riches within the Green Line, the magical ore of Mirinium, an enormous swath of timber from the Vastwood, and healthy fisheries along the coast of the Steeltides. It is this position that gives Colum one of its nicknames, this Queen's favorite, The Four Corners. Merchants travel from far and wide, braving the heat of Spirix or the long trek from Kingcardine to gain access to the largest market in the world.
Infrastructure
Colum is the home of the world's single greatest feat of civil engineering, the deconstruction of The Green Line. Before Colum was even named, its best accomplishment had already come to pass and had united Terisirae as one, contiguous country. A project of similar scope was begun in 963 Y.E., when cobbles were laid in a road that extended eastward from Colum. The project didn't end until almost one hundred years later in 1047 Y.E., when the road had reached all the way to the eastern end of Terisirae, come back, and went back out to sea again. During its construction, it was also inlaid with magical glowing stones and ever-burning fire, an expense that any other settlement likely would have found too great to bear. Dubbed the King's Road, it is a road that is constantly patrolled by soldiers from Colum, Kingcardine, and Ghure, and is the safest stretch of land anywhere in the world, eighth-hundred-fifty miles of well guarded, well-lit land that provides passage for adventurers, merchants, and travelers.
Within Colum itself, at the very heart of the capital of Terisirae, is Castle Vedrun, named for the first king of the land. It rests roughly equidistant from the western and eastern beaches of Terisirae, erosion notwithstanding, a feat that should have been impossible with the technology available five thousand years ago. Vedrun also rests directly underneath the highest arc of Eniea's moon, making it the most accurate way to predict the Moon Tide to this day.
Guilds and Factions
The guilds and factions of Colum are organized to accomplish three tasks, sometimes independently and sometimes in concert with one another. Those tasks are 1) Economic, to generate and maintain wealth; 2) Political, to advocate and instate policy; and 3) Defense, adventurers and war-makers who work together against the frequent monster attacks.
Prominent guilds and organizations in this category include High Power, adventurers guilds hand-picked by the crown to accept the most dangerous tasks and assignments, The United Workers and Laborers Association (UWLA), a union that protects blue-collar Columizers, Cross-Continental Collective of Adventurers (C3A), an organization of adventurer guild members from all over the world that share information and weapons, and Merchants Public, a wide-stretching organization based out of Colum that organizes merchants across Ec'algor.
History
Colum's history is one of the oldest in the remaining world, going as far back almost to the 5000s E.Y. From just a handful of disparate villages, the original population of Columizers founded the center of the country, fighting against tribes that dotted the Green Line, the Vastwood, Spirix, and even the mouth of the Rune River. Each of the villages fought against one another for control in their own region and fended off contested claims from outsiders until Vedrun Praleon united the tribes under his banner. In addition to being a mighty warrior, he was also a skilled politician in an era before politics. Praleon was able to gather the villages by 4300 E.Y., and began officially constructing Colum, so named for its central location and the union that made it possible. For his efforts, Vedrun was given the title of king, and his children have since been recognized as the rightful commanders of Colum.
Originally from humble beginnings, it has become the largest, most powerful, and most influential kingdom in Ec'algor.
This entry is narrated by Queen Cassandra of Vastwood
Founding Date
4522 E.Y.
Founders
Alternative Name(s)
Central Capital, Mountain and the Crown, the King's Land, The Homeland, Hearthland, Crown Capital, Vedrun's Tour, The Middle Country, The Four Corners
Type
Capital
Population
~ 14.4 million
Inhabitant Demonym
Columizers
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments