Sun Elves
Almost physically identical to the High Elves of the Glittering Islands, the only difference between the two is that features normally rare on the island are more common in the blazing kingdom, copper or bronze-like skin and reddish hairs are common in the kingdom. Members of the Sundered dynasty always have bright red hairs.
Army
The Army of the Kingdom of the Blazing Sun is the major military force in the continent, it's a well-organized professional force featuring well-equipped elite units and massive amounts of decently equipped and trained common soldiers. Historically the army's hierarchy was based on nobility, but the recent military reforms made after the Civil War have changed the structure to a merit-based system. The army consists of a core of professional commoners armed with black powder guns and long pikes, wearing a red coat made of stab and cut-resistant fabric known as Hao, the fabric is made of a local fine cotton treated with low-temperature pure oxygen obtained by alchemical means, the cotton is then finely woven and lacquered with resin from conifers of the region, the result is a hard barely flexible fabric that is cheap and light. In addition to the infantry core, noble units of cavalry and wyvern riders are used on the flanks, nobles are armed with star-forged weapons, usually swords, the nobles wear steel plate armor built on a Hao jacket frame, to protect the joints, due to the prevalence of Hao, chainmail is rarely used. The nobles' mounts are also barded with plate armor, for wyverns mithril is used, the material is rare in the region and so is extremely expensive, but the wyverns need light armor to maintain aerial agility, some rich nobles also use mithril plate for personal armor. The navy is made of privately owned merchant vessels that can be requisitioned by the crown in times of war.The Star-Forge
In Branashad the capital of the kingdom, (the name of the capital derives from the ancient name Brannstad meaning "fire city" in the giant language) stands the Star Forge, a huge cone-shaped tower 1475 m tall with a circular base 545m in diameter, built by the fire giants using massive stone 1-meter cubes, the structure is made of 114.697.000 stone blocks. Atop this tower sits a small star 100 million times smaller than Mihir (the star that Mundus orbits), making it about 7m in diameter. This marvel of engineering was constructed largely by the fire giants and then finished by Arinna Queen of Nothing, the first queen of the Sundered Dynasty. Nobody really knows how such a structure can stand, but the runes inscribed in the tower may hold the solution, they seem to shield from the massive heat and gravitational influence of the star as well as keeping it stable. Some of the more absurd theories include the use of technology from an advanced civilization of goblins living on Didon (the larger of the two moons of Mundus). Long skinny rods made of an enchanted alloy of adamantium, tungsten, and gold are inserted into the top of the tower piercing the core of the star, such rods are 100m long and need to be changed every few months of operation due to melting of the tip (most of the rod is recycled into new rods), the rods bring the heat of the star to the forge in the highest room of the tower (at about 1375m), here star-forged weapons are made, such weapons have a permanent incandescent blade that can cut trough almost anything. The massive tower serves also as the royal palace and the seat of the council.Government
The kingdom used to be an absolute monarchy with a ceremonial noble council that held no political power. The monarchy's succession law is cognatic primogeniture, but male heirs can inherit the title if there is no living woman of the royal dynasty. Succession in the kingdom is very important because the star forge stays lit only while a member of the Sundered Dynasty wears the crown. After the Civil War, a constitution was enacted giving basic rights to all the citizens, and the council was remodeled to include commoners, as well as having the power to enact law. The council has 30 seats, half the seats in the council are for elected representatives who hold power for 4 years with no term limit, the other half is reserved for the major noble families, the noble councilors hold the title for life and nominate their successor. The election of commoner councilors is divided by districts each commoner can vote for councilors for the district they live in, councilors do not need to live in the district they represent. The council is still dominated by the noble faction since nobles can vote and some districts are inhabited by a noble majority, moreover, nobles are fond of buying councilors and voters to their side. The monarch is the leader of the army and has the power to veto any council proposal, the monarch also gives a kingdom address at the beginning of every year that instructs the council on which issues to focus on.Economy
The kingdom has a strong almost self-sufficient economy, a strong diverse agriculture, and the husbandry of the countryside is supplemented by a well-developed industry of the capital. The region is rich in iron and contains a modest amount of valuable and rare metals. Major imports consist of alchemical reagents mainly from the Free Cities, and oak wood from the Glimmering Islands, more suited to build boats than the native trees. Major exports are Hao, sold exclusively to the Kindom of Rammas, and star-forged weapons sold to the Free Cities.Religion
Sun elves worship the same elven phanteon as other elves do, the importance of the gods is skewed in favor of gods of smithing and industry.Naming Traditions
Family names
Only nobles in the Kingdom of the Blazing Sun have dynastic names, commoners use trade names. Almost all elves in the kingdom are nobles, the common people are almost all human or half-elves.
Examples of dynastic names are: of the Silverblades, of the Bruces, of the Cecils, of the Percies, of the Despensers, of House Stuart, of House Tudor, of the Plantagenates, and of course of The Sundered the royal family.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
The language of the nobles is almost identical to the elvish spoken by high-elves in the Dukedom of the Glittering Islands, with just a minor difference in inflection and pronunciation. The language spoken by the commoners is grammatically elvish but features words evolved from ancient languages spoken by the population of the Merovingian region, as well as elven words from the Rammas region, due to the high immigration of humans and Half-elves from those regions during the age of strife and demon wars period.
Shared customary codes and values
The original philosophy of everyone being equal under the crown, quickly vanished with the influx of elves from the High-Elves kingdoms of the past, which brought the same hierarchical culture based on hereditary nobility. The biggest difference between the nobles of the kingdom and nobles in high-elven society is that nobles in the Kingdom of the Blasing Sun are descendent of middle-upper class tradesmen who felt undervalued in the high-elven society, so trades jobs are highly regarded in their society and masters of their trade are treated as well as arcane sages in high-elven society. Nobles in the kingdom frequently own industries and shops, in contrast with the agrarian feudal nobles, or arcane sages noble family of the Glittering Isles.
Foods & Cuisine
The blazing sun cuisine is similar to traditional elven cuisine with influence from the Merovingian and Rammas immigrants.
Although almost all high elves are vegetarians, elves in the Kingdom of the Blazing Sun enjoy meats from local husbandries and local wildlife.
One of the most famous traditional dishes of the Kingdom is calcaporva (a world that is the combination of the ramassian world for boar "calcapolca" and the elvish word for potato "cemorva"), seasoned boar ribs are served with a cream made of mashed potatoes and milk, usually served with wildberry sauce.
Related Organizations
