Ressengia
Under The Mountains' Shadow, We ShineThe Kingdom of Ressengia is a large country located near the centre of mainland Pretheya. A comparatively recent convert to Shahru; it retains a number of its old Ormr traditions even after becoming Rukhmarite. The kingdom is known for its unusual system of governance, where rather than having a feudal aristocracy composed of knights as is common in Landamar and Belyria, the nobility of Ressengia - including its ruler - are all priests.
Government
The Ressengian monarchy contains elements of both theocratic and bureaucratic rule in its design. As in other monarchies, the king is considered to be above the law, and derives his legitimacy from a claim to be chosen by the Firebird. The first large difference between Ressengia and the other Landamaeri monarchies is that the Ressengian king possesses significantly more power than other contemporary monarchs: Where the kings of Heralya and the various states in the Riverlands own little land and mostly rely on vassal levies to fight for them, the king of Ressengia instead controls a significant portion of the country's land, and can call upon a large standing army loyal directly to him.The Rukhmarite Priesthood
Still, despite this, the country is far from an absolute monarchy, and the majority of the power rests in the hands of the clerical aristocracy. Ressengia's upper echelons are composed of members of the Firebird Church, who wield both religious influence and martial power stemming from their ability to wield Theos. Their extremely high status in the social hierarchy of Ressengia grants them great power, which when combined with the land they own and the wealth they accrue from church tarrifs have made them into the most powerful faction in the country. Despite their tremendous power, the clergy are restricted in the ways they can exert their influence by the nature of their role in society. As priests, they are expected largely to occupy themselves with matters of the faith: To this end, they spend the majority of their time interpreting scripture, advising the king on new laws, and managing the country's vast religious infrastructure. The duties of the priests as Parotias, Flockbearers and Nestkeepers tend to take up the majority of their time, and this serves as a counterbalance against allowing them to get too involved in state politics. Yet despite this, the king still must take them into consideration before he makes any major decisions. On a personal level, the priesthood maintain their prestige by cultivating an image of generosity and beneficence. Members of the clerical aristocracy therefore favour living in grand manses constructed in the styles of eyres and perrches, which often double up as actual religious buildings for them to hold services from. The act of having one's residence in a holy place is considered to be evidence of great devotion to the faith, and many of the priests will also frequently leave large portions of their manses open to the public on weekends; where they will stay to provide guidance and mentorship in matters of the faith.The Ressengian Bureaucracy
Ressengia's bureaucracy is a truly ancient system, a holdover deriving from the former imperial bureaucracy of the Grannrormrlen. The country's bureaucracy has survived even the Karvina invasion, and has allowed Ressengia to remain the most centralised country in Pretheya save for perhaps the Vestaltir. It is divided into five tiers, with the lowest ranking officials in charge of matters like tax collection and the writing out of documents. Each rank comes with progressively more expansive and more important duties, with the uppermost rank reserved for high-level ministers in charge of overseeing crown land and other vital aspects of state infrastructure. The majority of bureaucrats are not themselves land owners, but work in the bureaucracy nonetheless provides one of the most accessible paths for upward social mobility available to the peasantry. Anyone can become part of it, with the only requirements being the ability to read at the lowest level. This is still enough to disquality roughly four fifths of the country's population from joining, but those that do enter find themselves with at the very least the opportunity to move up in the ranks and perhaps one day come to own land of their own; something that is all but an impossibility for a peasant serf.Classes
Ressengian society is divided between four primary classes in addition to a number of less prominent ones. The main four are the peasantry, the aristocratic priesthood, the merchants, and the bureaucrats, and the lesser ones include the knights and the esoterikii.Peasantry
The largest class by far; peasants make up around 80-85% of Ressengia's population, and are most commonly found in towns and small rural villages in the countryside. The vast majority of them spend their days working farms, either for a noble lord or the state itself, and very few actually own the land that they work. There exists a significant wealth disparity between the poorest and least destitute peasants; with the latter and those at the middle of the spectrum being able to afford to dye their clothes with plant roots, while the former will often go hungry throughout the winter. Peasants are rarely found within cities, and their mortality rate is extremely high; with few living beyond the age of fifty and around a quarter of children dying at or shortly after birth.Merchants
Merchants occupy a comparatively low position in Ressengian society compared to the other non-peasant classes, owing to common perception of the profession as 'dirty' and immoral. Despite the relative lack of respect that they receive, many merchants are tremendously wealthy, and they make up the lifeblood of Ressengia's cities and foreign commerce. Though there are only perhaps a few thousand of them at most, the richest among them rival Ressengia's aristocratic clergy in terms of wealth; if not political power. They are found in every city and most towns in the country, most commonly those on the coast, and particularly the capital of Evergrace.Bureaucrats
The bureaucrats of Ressengia are responsible for all sorts of matters both little and small; from the collection of tithes to the administration of justice, they oversee the lands held by the crown and are also responsible for the collection of taxes. Though all but the most powerful of their individuals are poorer than most merchants, they outrank them in the social and legal hierarchy of Ressengia, and their ability to inspect businesses to ensure compliance with Ressengian law grant them a great deal of power over the mercantile class. The Ressengian bureaucracy is divided between five different ranks, with those in its first rank possessing power on par with a lesser member of the aristocracy.Priesthood
The ruling class of Ressengia are the Rukhmarite priests; who hold power both spiritual and martial power over their peers. Where in other realms, feudal lords hold command due to their ability to control knights, in Ressengia the greatest monopolisers of the ability to enact violence are the priests who can call down Rukhmar's burning wrath upon their enemies. The Ressengian clergy comonly own vast stretches of land, and their positions are most commonly passed down via hereditary succession; leading many of them to have established powerful families in the country. They have amassed tremendous wealth from the 10% tithe that all peasants are forced to pay to the church, and it can be argued that the true power in Ressengia rests with them rather than the king.Religion
For over a millennia, Ressengians worshipped the Hundred Gods and put their faith in the spirits of the long-dead Ormr, and even in the present many traditions from that time - such as belief in the All'Gwerin - still remain. However, it has been centuries since the Ressengian state followed the Ormr Tradition; having embraced Shahru at the time of the Karvina conquests. In the present day, Ressengia is a devoutly Rukhmarite nation, and all but the last vestiges of faith in the Ormr have long since died out.Tolerance Towards Other Religions
The Ressengian attitude towards certain parts of the Ormr tradition is particularly lax. Though the Wyrms themselves are thought of as demons, many ancient practises and beliefs stemming from the time before Ressengia's conversion to Shahru continue to flourish in the present day. Most prominent among these is the belief in the All'Gwerin: Many vernacular Ressengians continue to believe in the spirits and wild creatures said to lurk in the forests, lakes, mountains, and caves; often much to the frustration of the country's priests, who consider such beliefs to be heresy. Other foreign religions, such as the Thousandforms' Estrella and the various faiths practised by traders from outside of the continent are at times tolerated; but this is in the vast majority of cases limited to the bounds of cities that see them as frequent traders.Geography
Ressengia's geography is similar to that of the other regions comprising Landamar: The northern two thirds of the country are blanketed in rolling hills interspersed by valleys, where water flows down from the higher ground and forms into innumerable small rivers that eventually flow out to the Wretched Expanse. Despite the highly uneven terrain, it lacks the tall mountains found in Heralya, and beyond the subtle differences in elevation caused by the many hills, the country is relatively flat. The land on the border along the [silv is covered in rolling hills interspersed with small valleys and cut through by a network of rivers, which gradually flatten out further to the east. The elevation of some hills makes them unsuitable for farming, in which cases many have been left to sport small but dense patches of pine forest and other woodland. The elevated portions of the country are generally moderately forested, while the lowlands have been cleared of all but small patches of trees in order to make space for farmland. The centre of the country to the west of Evergrace is mostly flat, save for a few narrow rows of hills, and it is here where the majority of the population is contained. Smaller cities are scattered all over, with towns tending to be situated around the various rivers and villages springing up wherever there is land that needs to be tilled. The Ressengian climate generally experiences mild winters and warm summers, which makes the region excellent for growing wine grapes. Visually, the land is dominated by various types of farm and pastureland, with rolling fields of grass being a common sight. The region is absent of the vast majority of the more exotic types of flora created by the Ormr, and so most resembles the world immediately after the enactment of the Law of Mortality; one of endless emerald green as far as the eye can see. The southernmost area of Ressengia is a heavily forested region that receives a great deal of rain from the Silver Mountains, and so consists largely of swampland. This part of the country is difficult to live in, and so lacks any major cities; with the largest settlements being a small gaggle of towns located upon a rise in the centre of the swamp, where it is the least damp.Foreign Relations
TBD"The Golden Country"
Founding Date
1257 Re
Capital
Alternative Names
Ressengia
Demonym
Ressengian
Government System
Monarchy, Theocratic
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Market economy
Official State Religion
Neighboring Nations