Ys
Ys is a land of perpetual war and yet its people seem themselves as peace loving. They prize strength and pride to a point that foreigners would consider vainglorious, but they are also famed for their self sacrifice. It is in Ys that the works of the philosopher kings of Nysa are studied most closely, but it is hard to find a Ysian man sober by the noon hour. These contradictions come from the central pillar of Ys culture, passion. No man, woman, child, or dog can be expected to sit still when their heart tells them to act.
Structure
At the dawn of each decade the chiefs of the thirty tribes of Ys gather for a moot to determine their High King. The vote must be unanimous and made while all participants are sober, which means most moots only end after weeks of debate. If the previous High King still lives he is generally re-elected but only after much haranguing and goading for more promises and gifts to his subjects.
The High King is required to leave his previous region, and forfeit all of his property to his designated heir. He then takes up residence in Gwen's Keep atop Caer Hill. From this capitol the King acts the nation's representative in all dealings with foreign nations and as arbitrator in all internal disputes between lords. Should a national law or project need to be enacted it is also the royal prerogative, but such things are rarely considered a necessity.
Assets
Every Ysian knows the names of his ancestors back six generations, and learned men far further. It is by this filial piety that their priests are able to call upon ancestors of the Dawn Age to aid their warriors in combat. These ancestors are no mere men but giants, fairies, and strange creatures of the sea, all equally protective of their descendants.
History
Ys is a land stolen from the sea. It is only through a massive dike works and sluices that the lands were drained and made into arable land plots. This work was completed during the Age of Slumber to provide food for Ys's ever increasing population. They were squeezed between the Capetians to their north and the Hillfolk to their south, both of whom had proven to be quarrelsome neighbors. So the high king of the time decreed that the only sensible road for expansion was to invade the merlings, and take their bounty.
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Alternative Names
The Low Lands, The Stolen Lands
Demonym
Ysian
Government System
Monarchy, Elective
Power Structure
Confederation
Related Ethnicities
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