Imperial Merovingian
The people in the eastern principality's stature and physique are average, most of them have lighter skin, dark hairs, and brown eyes but it is not unusual to see one with blond or red hair or lightly colored eyes.
Army
The Merovingian standing army is small, primarily made up of guards that patrol in and around the various settlements in the region, nobles are required to field adequate armies to defend their demesne like in Aurum but no legal number of soldiers is specified. Each Merovingian citizen age 16 to 45 is required by law to be physically fit and keep armaments appropriate to their economic status, this may mean a spear for the poorer or a full plate armor a well-made melee weapon a warhorse, and barding fit for it for the rich. Conscription is used both in defensive and aggressive wars. Other than the regular army the Merovingian kingdom may request aid from the multitudes of knightly orders in the region.Government
The kingdom is a hereditary agnatic-cognatic constitutional elective monarchy, meaning the direct vassals of the crown may vote any of the children of both the queen and king to succeed the current monarch children are always legitimized even bastards. The Nobles follow a similar succession, the nobles under a duke for example may vote for any of the children of the duke or duchess to inherit the duchy. Nobles without any other nobles under them may elect a successor amongst their or their spouse's children. The kingdom is early decentralized meaning that there are few kingdom-wide laws and any noble may govern their fief largely as they please. The Merovingian constitution limits the power of the monarchs and nobles and guards the rights of the kingdom's citizens, such rights include but are not limited to, a maximum number of work hours every ten-day capped at 90, the right to not work on the first day of the ten-day, the right to due process from a kingdom appointed judge, and the right of trial by combat and honor duels.Economy
The economy in the kingdom is strong and largely self sufficient, a major exporter of wine, fruits, and horses, the kingdom needs only to import rare and valuable metals and technology from the free cities.Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
The people in the eastern principality are known for a few things, wine, and tourneys chief among them.
The culture of the nobility is historically connected with the multitudes of knightly orders in the region, the nobility is hierarchically divided similarly to the region of Aurum to the south, but they do not follow this hierarchy to the letter, some duchy may not have counties to control and some such as Lengramm may not even have barony or smaller villages under them, the same is true for less important nobles a baron might report directly to the monarch without a cont or a duke above him, and even if the title is less prestigious a count may have more money or political power than a duke.
The minor nobles who would not inherit land find their home in many of the Chivarlich orders of the region, even minor nobles from other regions of the empire are fond of joining such orders. These orders have a list of honorable rules or require an oath or usually both, strict followers of their order's dogma can find themselves with supernatural powers similar to the ones that paladins of the church of the white flame have, for this reason, commoners have begun to call such individual paladins although they are not necessarily religiously affiliated.
Tourneys are organized frequently in many cities and major towns in the kingdom, for the joy of nobles and commoners alike, entry to the tourney grounds is free but games and market stalls found on the premises have exorbitant prizes and although one needs not be famous to participate in the various competitions the entry fee is usually quite expensive.
There are multiple prizes for each tourney and depending on the size something could be won even by the tenth place, although usually only the first three places are awarded prizes.
A prize could be a master-crafted weapon, a good war horse, a full set of plate armor, or even a gun from the free city; it is unusual for a prize to be just a sum of coins because the tourney is sponsored by various shops, nobles, and companies that tend to use the competition to publicize the item, the more someone pays for the event the larger the banner on the side of the arena and the longer the announcer will take to describe the prized item, some sponsor have even begun hiring entertainers for the pauses between competitions.
Funerary and Memorial customs
The large presence of the Church of the White Flame has largely suppressed the Merovingian funerary rites of old, the region used to be famous for elaborate noble crypts and masuleum but now most nobles are buried with just a fancy tombstone and most commoners are burned or buried in communal pits.
Related Organizations
