Belahm
Belahm map
Only becoming a free nation in the unrest that followed the maelstrom of crimson lightening, the country of Belahm has been a territory that had spent the majority of its prior time exchanging hands between the three countries that surround it: Irenvald, Ravenashen, and Baactri-Tochar.
While under the control of Irenvald there was a coup lead by two prominent individuals: The Eagle Duke who had been given power in the territory to defend it while the Irenvald army was preoccupied elsewhere, and The Owl Oracle whose title had long been passed down by seers in the region and whose insight continues to keep Belham a free state.
The Eagle Duke, now the Eagle King, and the Owl Oracle have become continuing titles in the new kingdom and continue to hold the responsibility of maneuvering it as a free state.
Its former controlling powers wage intermittent wars to overtake it and a particularly brutal invasion from all three 100 years ago kicked off a slow drain of Belham's forces, forcing them to turn to mercenaries as a primary means of self defense while leaving the main army in the capital city. Under the Owl Oracle's direction, however, mercenary armies soon found themselves loyally working for the burgeoning nation instead of fleecing it, and mercenary companies have become a dedicated, and usually loyal, mainstay for the region.
The source of the passion to control Belahm, which is a combination of swaps and thick forests to the West, wide planes to the South, and rocky mountain and badland regions to the North and East, is in a small central location containing its most fertile fields and its ancient, alien, and magical capital city of Mourholm. Called the Oracle city, the Eagle's Nest, and the Great Pyre, the city is as strange and captivating to its residents and countrymen as it is to the powerful outside influences who seek ownership of it.
While the capital city's surrounding orchards and farmland are successful, and Mourholm prominent, the country itself is further dotted with small self-sustaining villages, often only loosely overseen by fief lords. Most of the population is from these smaller villages and territories and live under even loser crown oversight and often the common populace ekes out a harsh living in a land that contains monsters of both lore, and of mankind, with raids of both being a common enough occurrence that city walls are an expectation in most places.
The most positive current upturn has been that the 100-year wars have finally ended in the last 3 years, with Irenvald being the last to withdraw. Troubles remain however: the mercenaries once employed to defend begin to grow restless at Vanguard waystations created to acts as border guards. Deserters to private fief armies increase everyday, and worry over having to move Eagle guard or Owl Knights outside of Mourholm to fill in these gaps has residents of both border towns and the capital on edge.
Structure
Belham possesses a split ruling system. The Eagle King deals largely in military organization, economic organization, and internal control of the nation. The Owl Oracle has soft-veto power over him, dependent upon her visions, but largely stays out of politics. Largely her position consists of monitoring the health of the country, protection from foreign incursion, and general guidance to the King.
Culture
The Belhamese are a diverse collection of refugees, mercenaries, pilgrims, ex-invaders, and isolated villagers. Because of this its hard to define a singular overarching culture within the country. The one commonality they do share is the demeanor gained from living in a country with a history of being besieged and invaded, that of stubborn endurance. From the stubborn woodsmen who brave the dark and haunted forests surrounding their isolated village, to the impoverished beastfolk in the slums around Mourholm who stay for any chance at a life, to the original betrayal of the Eagle duke who became a king, a stubborn and independent demeanor is the common denominator.
Nothing highlights this individuality more than the Mourholm approach to religion. The small towns of Belahm tend to follow their own pantheons, usually created from ancestors, local heroes, or house gods common to prominent families. In Mourholm and the Ellencot Cathedral this tendency is taken to its peak. With multitudes of villagers beliefs fusing and interacting. Different interpretations of the same god form mystery cults frequently and the actual goals of the almost silent entities allows them to be manipulated for selfish ends.
Assets
Mourholm has a monopoly on mercenary forces that it has forged into quickstart free-form militias (due to the Oracle's vision cementing more victory compared to competitors), a heavily drilled standing army under oversight of the King called the Eagle Guard, and the Oracle has her own private army of strange silent knights called Owl Knights. The Oracle's guidance means only dedicated enemy countries would risk incursion into their territory, though this has not been infrequent. Other powerful and knowledgeable foes stand high in neighboring governments as well, and Mourholm's most impressive, and magical, structure called The Pyre is seen as ample reason for attempts at reclamation.
Otherwise the kingdom has high copper and iron deposits along the Eastern border with Ravenashen, the magically stimulated orchards and fields around Mourholm, ample lumber to the east toward Irenvald, and several mystical loci near the capital, Ellencot Cathedral, and the region called Corpseground. Additionally Mourholm's Pyre seems to repel many monsters although its range is limited.
Ever Watching
Founding Date
Year 0 of the Crimson Maelstrom, 801 ES, 14th of Locus
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Alternative Names
Oracle city, Eagle's Nest, The Great Pyre
Demonym
Belhamese
Currency
Peaceful trade
Belahm has publicly limited its involvement with Sarngava to occasional trade routes reaching outposts in the north. Sarngava appreciates the lack of interference and some of the beneficial, some might claim overly generous, trade offered to them.
Uneasy Truce
The controller of Belahm before it revolted against them under the Eagle Duke. Irenvald, when ruled by the Queen of Air and Darkness, has wanted the country back for some time and has made multiple military incursions to this goal. There last incursion prompted the Western border Standguard stations, and caused the death of an Owl Oracle at a location called Lost Hope. There is skeptical hope that the new King may have more peaceful relations in the future.
Peaceful trade, Insinuations of Espionage
Ravenashen has been increasing its peaceful trade and ambassadorial relations with Belahm as of late. While this has increased Belahm tensions of foreign interference or espionage from the desperate, militarist power they have acquiesced in accordance with the Owl oracle's directions.
More recently Ravenashen's relations have become more complicated with the madam ambassador's daughter being rescued by servants of the state and the revelation of the same madam's potential involvement in a terrorist instigation/attack and her subsequent confinement into custody. Currently Ravenashen has sent letters demanding the return of their diplomatic envoy and Belahm has denied the request until the end of the investigation (and potential interrogation). This has increased tensions, and foreign tradesmen undergo heavier checks at the Ravenashen border for the forseeable future, but direct conflict has yet to break out though additional protections are being heaped on the surviving ambassador and her daughter to avoid assassination from their home country.
Peaceful trade
While not actively engaged with ambassadors or heavy foreign relations, the trade convenience with Baactri-Tochar has improved relations between the two countries. Their longer peaceful interactions, in opposition to their initial invasions and consistent military's readiness, does breed uneasiness. Rumors abound of secret plots to influence Belham.
Meanwhile, Belaham's inclusion of powerful Baactrian refugee families ( now married into the very politically and monetarily influential Marblestrike clan) that had resisted the Emperor's early rise to power is seen in a very negative light by Yuhzeians.
Unrecognized
Though not as distant as Irenvald, Pei-tsu has never directly reached out to contact Belahm. Belahm dignitaries have been rebuffed from entering satellite cities and exactly what the cold shoulder means is unclear. Some in Belham suspect spying or a refusal to recognize independence but without an official word on the matter it remains nebulous.
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