Prunyth
"Prunyth. I don't go there, not past the White Tower, anyway. It's not the zombie plantations or the fact that the water will kill you. It's their Elector, the Archduchess. She doesn't like me, and I don't like her. And if you let slip to anyone in that forsaken place that you don't like her, then you best get out of town as fast as you can get."
~Abide Baht Mig of Abide and Seak's Bizarre Bazaar
Structure
The Prunyth Elector Council is sometimes known as the Fossilized Choir. These mostly petrified undead are attached to the walls of the Archduchess' court, where she presides. They choose the Elector to represent the canton. They also debate laws and policy, and they crave entertainment. A not insignificant budget of the canton goes to hiring bards to deliver news from outside in an entertaining fashion as well as throwing grand balls for the choir to vicariously enjoy.
An endless stream of functionaries, lobbyists, and bureaucrats come and go, delivering their pleas and reports to the Fossilized Choir and receiving their marching orders.
Demography and Population
The people of Prunyth are the sort of simple, practical folk one finds in such extreme circumstances. They eke out a living panning and smelting minerals from the pools, hunting what game they can, and operating small farms of rice paddies and tarberries. The oldest of them are often sporting one or more missing limbs, having been forced to amputate a petrified hand or foot after years upon years of drinking the water. They are known for their implacability in the face of the inevitable and their gallows humor.
The living of Prunyth are considered children, and viewed in a way that caterpillars might be viewed. The citizens of Prunyth are the dead. At the lowest rung are the mindless undead, raised from those that would in other societies be buried in commongraves or catacombs. They toil on vast plantations of wetgrass and tarberries, and in the enormously productive saltmines. The ‘good citizens’ of Prunyth become various intelligent undead, though the vast majority of them are haints. These upper crust individuals are the actual citizens, with voting rights and adult responsibilities. They consume vast amounts of the toxic tarberries to fuel their unlives, and they go about their business as any other upper class might.
Territories
Prunyth's western border encompasses the Screaming Marsh, extends through the Gargoyle Wastes, and terminates on the southeastern shore. On the northern border with Doroinir Nimloth, Prunyth controls Firn Gilead, the Dead Forest.
Living in these places is toxic. Each of them have their own unique hazards, but all of them share the "gorgon pools," ponds of unique composition that poison and petrify the careless beasts that drink from them. These places are a bit of a red herring, however; all of the water in Prunyth not garnered from the aqueducts carry small amounts of the same toxins. Most living citizens of Prunyth, those in rural areas in particular, are on a slow march towards petrification.
Military
Of all cantons, Prunyth likely has the largest per capita military. The funerary rites of Prunyth demand that those who would go to ossuaries in the rest of Maecodia instead get pressed into service for the canton. Prunyth's common citizens perform postmortem labor as zombies or skeletons, but also a certain number of them are maintained in massive levies. Additionally, Prunyth maintains a small fleet of wraith ships for a navy.
The Archduchess also has a dedicated sect of templar knights that serve as the Prunyth House Guard known as the Pale Knights.
Religion
The vast majority of Prunyth pays homage to The Archduchess of Prunyth as the unliving demigoddess of Maravasi and Mosivy. It is the only place where the entropites have significant sway.
Foreign Relations
The Elves of Doroinir Nimloth despise Prunyth, and would likely raid more often if the territory weren't so inhospitable. Violence at the hands of elves is the number one cause of death among
Agriculture & Industry
Vast plantations owned by The Archduchess are controlled by overseers and farmed by zombies and skeletons. Bog iron is fished in head-sized lumps out of the bogs. Often considered subpar, it makes flexible iron and steel when smelted that is almost useless for large weapons but can hold a finer edge for arrows and speartips and has more industrial uses for springs and nails.
Trade & Transport
The wraith ships serve double duty as a trade fleet in peacetime. On land routes, wagons pulled by taxidermied ox-zombies ply the roads from town to town.
Education
Academies set up and funded by the Archduchess of Prunyth educate the young.
Infrastructure
Raised roads of highly polished, petrified wood expertly and efficiently connect all of the settlements in the canton. Aqueducts made of the same bring safe drinking water to most of the large settlements, but many of the more rural citizens go without.
All Hail
Type
Geopolitical, State
Capital
Alternative Names
Canton of Prunyth, The Petrified Marshes
Demonym
Nythian
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Theocracy
Power Structure
Confederation
Economic System
Palace economy
Major Exports
Prunyth exports are mostly luxury items: silks and art pieces. The long lives of their undead citizens grant them the opportunity to perfect their techniques.
Major Imports
There is always a demand for black gemstones in Prunyth, and they pay double the going rate for them. Likewise, salt and spices are at a premium.
Legislative Body
The Fossilized Choir
Judicial Body
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Neighboring Nations
Organization Vehicles
Notable Members
Comments