Claydor Kingdom
A kingdom occupying the southernmost territories of Irrelion, with a notorious reputation for eccentric rulers. The Claydor Kingdom gets its name from, not the rulers, but from the Clayden Mountains, which separate the lands from the rest of Irrelion, which is where the ruling family also took their surname. Seen as underdogs, yet simultaneously the greatest enemy to the Empire, the only to wage war, win, and take territory.
Structure
The King rules directly, with regional councils in each city or village acting in accordance with the King's will, with a Liaison communicating directly with the king and his Royal Council directly. The Royal Council is the few most trusted advisors and friends of the king who he trusts to help him in making decisions.
Culture
The culture is seen as many as somewhat backwards and simplistic, as much of the population wears simple clothing, doesn't have much money or live in fancy homes, but the Claydors do not care. They are content with their simple lives, living with nature, off the land and with it. Subsistence farming is quite common, many people having their own plots of land where they raise livestock and grow crops, using everything possible for what they need to live, even making foraging a part of every day life. Despite this seemingly antiquated lifestyle, the people are incredibly happy, throwing regular feasts and celebrations, and having a strong sense of community. The Claydor Family, who has ruled the lands since it's unification in the 800's, even considers every citizen as a member of the family, with kings and princes, queens and princesses calling the common folk their brothers and sisters, and personally helping out around town.
Public Agenda
While for much of their initial history, the Claydor citizens and rulers only wished to live a peaceful life in their own section of the world, the Battle of Vanderbilt Pass led to a complete and all-encompassing hatred for the Afrington Empire
Assets
The Claydors have somewhat small stockpiles of equipment and money, but they have a great deal of crops, livestock, and horses, and their lands are riddled with fortified strongholds and fortresses that would give them a tacit home-field advantage were war to come into their lands.
History
The lands south of the Clayden Mountains were always filled with people who wished to live a simple, more rural life, away from the troubles of the heartlands of the continent. One warrior family, who named themselves after the mountains themselves, the Claydors, were among the largest and strongest warrior families in the area, and banded together under George Claydor II to create a kingdom and unify the lands south of the mountain to ensure that the people there could continue their peaceful lifestyle, and this unification was almost unanimously supported by all.
As time went on, and the Claydor family cemented themselves as true rulers, the Afrington Empire, in search of more materials to fund their rampant wars, sought the riches of the Clayden Mountains, which had long stood as entirely within Claydor Territory. The war that ensued ended with the Battle of Vanderbilt Pass, and lead to the Claydors taking lands beyond the mountains, which they have held without ceding an inch.
As time passed since the battle, and when Philarion Pendleton was crowned as emperor, his hatred, spurring from that battle, led him to constantly wage battle against Claydor forces, only furthering contempt against the Empire. There have been wars at least every decade since, and the people of the kingdom have slowly tempered themselves and their lifestyle, focusing more and more on the constant wars, hoping one day for peace, or, preferably, for complete destruction of the Empire.
Demography and Population
The kingdom is notable less diverse than other nations, seeing a more concentrated focus on the three major races, Humans, Elves, and Dwarves. The Humans and dwarves are sturdy, and thrive in the colder southern lands that see harsh winters, whereas the elves tend to fit in to the deeper parts of the forest, where their intrinsic magic and connection to nature can help them to live comfortable far away from the rest of civilization. The average birthrate here is quite high, and the population has seen steady and large increases year over year for near 2 decades.
Territories
The southernmost territories beneath a mountain range are well cemented as their own territories, and they are constantly struggling with the Afrington Empire for territories north of the mountain range. They have successfully pushed past the mountain range but have yet to create a solid foothold in the area
Military
The Claydor military force is heavily made of people from smaller villages who leave home to serve. Part of it is that the pay can be sent back home to help their family, and another part is the patriotic desire to serve. While the supplies for the military are quite inferior to all other nations, the individual strength of the average soldier is quite above most other nations. This is due to regular heavy treks through dense woods, the stocky build of many of the Claydor citizens, and the labor that they take part in across the many villages they stop in during training and patrols. Building fences, barns, houses, roads, and many other structures is a common part of duty for the Claydor soldier, which leads to them being quite large and strong. Claydor soldiers, however, do not take regular part in disciplined weapons training. While it is a part of training, it is not a constantly enforced discipline as it is in other militaries, leading to a tradeoff where the average Claydor soldier is much bigger, stronger, and tireless, but are not as good with weapons, especially large-scale group tactics.
Foreign Relations
The Claydors have been at the throats of the Afringtons for many years now, and are a constant enemy of the empire. Simultaneously, the Claydors are in decent relations with the other nations, primarily due to being willing to enter favorable trade agreements, primarily in lumber and fish, varieties of which can only be found in the Clayden peninsula.
Strong as Oak
Founding Date
B.A. 627
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Currency
Using the traditional 4 coins as all other nations do, the Claydor coins have their own unique spin on them. The front side of the coin has an embossed tree, the same kind that is seen on the flag, and the rear side of the coins have a debossed version of a different leaf for the different coins. Copper coins have a Yew leaf, Silver have Birch, Gold have Oak, and Platinum have Maple.
Legislative Body
The king himself is directly responsible for all laws passed, but often, for better or worse, has assistants and delegates handle the laws. Smaller villages are allowed to, by popular vote, enact their own laws if it is to their own benefit or protection, allowing necessary action to be taken for more remote areas which might not be able to get direct approval from a delegate in a major town or city in ample time. The cities with several delegates form delegatoriums, councils where said delegates preside on larger and more important matters.
Judicial Body
Small courts are established in smaller villages and larger cities, which are staffed by citizens chosen by chance. A longstanding idea in Claydor culture is that common-folk should have a say in the punishments of others. To this end, any case being presided on in a court will have 3 or 5 judges, depending on the severity of the charges. The judges, however, are not elected, nor are they typically educated formally in law. Instead, well-known citizens from the community who are esteemed and respected are asked if they would prefer to be in a pool of potential judges, from which names are drawn at random when necessary. This helps avoid elected corruption and ensures that the community can decide what is best for itself in a sense.
Executive Body
Local guard forces are established, either by delegates, or by the people themselves. In major cities, they are strict and regimented, and held to high standards, with barracks and uniforms, and ranks. Within smaller cities, the guards are volunteers from the local populace, using old, shoddy, or completely improvised weaponry and armor.
Location
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Comments