The Kingdom of Fenlor
Located within the interior of Arathel, the Kingdom of Fenlor was founded in 1737 SR (37 SA) more than 2500 years ago. The national governmental is a Constitutional Monarchy currently headed by Queen Sisira a'Dar IV, the first ruler in the Highgrove-A'Dar Dynasty, who came to power three years ago in 4478 SR (1392 CA). The territory of the Kingdom reaches from the fishing village of Eston in the south to a few isolated villages located north of Forodost in the Tanglewood Forest.
However, an expansion of the Monarchy's influence is on the horizon. Queen Sisira a'Dar IV recently made a series of speeches about the responsibility of the monarchy and the need for stronger governance of Greater Fenlor. In the most recent of these speeches, her annual Unification Day speech, Queen Sisira laid out plans for establishing regional government offices throughout Greater Fenlor. The new government offices will administer regional police and military functions, tax collection, education and technical training, and census activities. Since that speech, construction teams have been improving the roads between Hyton and the future "District Capital" locations and breaking ground on building foundations. When completed, this action will represent both the largest decentralization of government power in Fenlor's history, as well as the largest increase in government presence within Greater Fenlor. Royal observers also note that it will represent the greatest exertion of royal power beyond the reach of the Noble Houses in hundreds of years.
In fact, for years the region was thought to be uninhabitable. However, royal survey teams moving through the area to document and quantify the explosion’s impact on the region found small patches of land with incredibly rich, productive soil. In all of the fertile areas within this band, the survey teams found peculiar ejecta material from the crater. Approximately gravel sized, the ejecta is made up of black pebbles, each with a single white, unfilled circular shape on one side. These black stones with open, white circles are now known as Darjur's Eyes and give the region its name: Darjur's Blessing.
Mapping out the extent of the rich farmlands took three years. Once completed, the survey found that the fertile regions formed within a semi-coherent swath stretching from the Blightsource Crater southward toward Brightwater Bay. The fertile areas were deemed fit for re-population, but convincing the first groups of colonists to return to the Plain was difficult and required incentives such as equipment, funds, and land grants. Now, most parcels of arable land have been claimed and several new villages dot the former Havenwood Plain. Despite the extensive colonization and cultivation, travel between these isolated villages or into and out of the region remains difficult due to the poisonous nature of the area. To facilitate necessary commerce and travel, a new protective potions industry developed. As demand skyrocketed for magical and natural elixirs to prevent Plains Plague and general nausea, a rash of entrepreneurs formed new business ventures to produce them.
The open nature and attitude toward other races does not extend toward those who prefer members of their own gender as romantic partners. Both the laws of Fenlor and the attitudes of many of the citizens are, if not outwardly hostile, certainly unfriendly and uncaring toward homosexual members of society. For example, no law protects homosexual Fenlorans from discrimination in the work place, the legal system, or society at large. The legal protections that do exist include protection from assault due to sexual orientation and freedom to conduct intimate relations between members of the same gender. Yet, despite these written protections, many homosexual Fenlorans have been beaten and left bloodied in the streets of Hyton with little interference or follow-up investigation by law enforcement (enforcement in smaller towns varies significantly). In response to the callus regard of the Fenloran government and the ingrained prejudices of some members of the Fenloran society, an underground network developed to help homosexual (and other outcast) citizens by offering physical protection and providing aide with locating jobs, meeting socially, and combating discrimination of all forms. This network is known as the Fenloran Union of Non-conformists.
Fenloran society has a patriarchal bent and is quite strict when it comes to gender roles. Males are considered capable of holding any place in society, but to be especially gifted intellectually (on average). In contrast, females are considered to be practical and creative, but lacking in the mental prowess necessary to pursue deep intellectual thought and debate. As such, males hold nearly all positions that require a higher education or are considered to be intellectual such as lawyers, educators, clergy, high ranking military officers, and members of the government. Females are considered unqualified for high level discussion and debate, but to be well suited for roles as craftspeople, artists, cooks, bakers, and low level administrators (e.g., secretaries). Interestingly, and possibly due to the great mix of races present in Fenlor, physical strength is not considered to be an important distinction between males and females in Fenlor. Indeed, both genders are found and accepted in the military and police forces, as are members of the fire brigade, blacksmiths, and other jobs requiring significant strength. However, it is rare to see a female achieve a rank much above sergeant and unheard of for a female to have any strategic role in military planning.
Recently, the ascension of Queen Sisira a'Dar IV to power in 4478 SR (2527 CA) shed a light on the role of gender in society. The Queen’s ascension did not result in any immediate substantive change, but suddenly the role of women in society and their intellectual prowess has been thrust into the spotlight. Although unusual, a Queen is not unheard of in the Kingdom of Fenlor. The previous Queen of Fenlor was Queen Sarra IV who reigned ~600 years ago, from 3835 SR to 3873 SR (1884-1922 CA). Queen Sarra IV took power after her aunt, Queen Joane II, suffered an unusual death from Explosive Spores that infected her body during a foray into the northern reaches of the Tanglewood Forest. During the reign of Queen Sarra IV there was a spectacular failure in military strategy by her general Enneth Bowe, which reinforced the bias of Fenloran Society against woman in positions requiring intellectual prowess. Most Fenloran males credit the current queen’s governing ability to her royal blood conferring an unusual sharpness of mind for a woman.
Recent events, however, are diminishing the warm and generous feelings of the citizens of Fenlor toward the God-Touched. First, the unexplained and sudden decrease in communication and influence of the Old Gods on Quel after the Blightsource Crater Explosion continues, leading many to question the initial interpretation of the God-Touched as a blessing from the gods (however, others view this as a test of faith). Second, waves of God-Touched are fleeing the Tataki Archipelago. In contrast to the view held in the Kingdom of Fenlor, on the Tataki islands the God-Touched are viewed as aberrations to be feared and reviled. This view stems from a belief that the God-Touched are products of divine dispute and discord. The Tataki attribute evil events and bad luck to the god-touched. Indeed, many families sacrificed their God-Touched babies to appease the gods in the first few months after the explosion. Those babes that survived have always been viewed as lower class citizens, but have been tolerated as members of Tatakian society until now.
Nine months ago the newly crowned Emperor Hiroshi of the Tataki Archipelago ordered a purge of all the God-Touched In Tataki. He pledged to “remove their scourge from the Empire”. The intense persecution and now deadly threat are creating a refugee crisis in the neighboring nations. Due to the historically favorable view and welcoming attitude of Fenlorans toward God-Touched, the majority of God-Touched refugees are seeking a new life in the Kingdom of Fenlor. Initially welcoming to the wave of God-Touched, Fenloran citizens are beginning to re-think their generosity. Ambury Temple will now only accept refugees who are deathly ill or severely wounded, Hyton is overloaded with slums of God-Touched, and in several of the bridge towns slums are threatening to form. With few existing social services, the political and financial strain is taking a toll on Fenlor’s coffers, as well as on the hearts and minds of the populace.
The influence of the military on the daily lives of citizens depends upon the part of the country in which a person finds themselves. In the military fortress town of Forodost, daily life bears the direct imprint of military action and the military machine. However, in the large capital city of Hyton, although a citizen may see a soldier during the day, the military does not play a strong role in their citizen's daily actions or decisions.
The tradition of plays and storytelling has a long history in Fenlor. Since the kingdom’s founding, the royal family has always funded a national theater company of one form or another. Indeed, the first King of Fenlor, King Rance I, was an avid consumer of theatrical performance and even sporadically performed in disguise (although this was not widely known until after his death). Outside the royal family, theatrical performances are woven into the lives of all Fenlorans. Customarily, players perform a theatrical piece to mark a person’s acceptance as an adult into society (at 14 years of age) and a person’s death. The play marking acceptance as an adult member of society (i.e., the Guidance Play) is usually an aspirational piece with a main character who undergoes hardship to achieve great happiness, financial success, or wisdom. The play is traditionally chosen by the parents or guardian of the young person who is coming of age. Nominally dedicated to a god, it is believed that a good performance will persuade the god to aid the young person to achieve similar successes as the main character. The young people themselves do not perform in their own Guidance Play as professional actors are thought more likely to please the gods. Recently, more and more Guidance Plays are being dedicated to the New Gods with faith in the Old Gods declining. Upon a person’s death, the family often hires players to perform a Life Play with themes of redemption, rebirth, and contentment. Wealthy families often employ a playwright to create a new play based upon events in the deceased’s life. The Life Play has traditionally been dedicated to Cronus to help usher the deceased through death’s door, but recently some have chosen to dedicate Life Plays to either Losse or Ndu, high gods in the pantheon of the New Gods. Naturally, with theater so ingrained in the lives of Fenlorans, it is common to come across troupes of players on the road traveling from town to town throughout the kingdom; troupes with good reputations command high prices for their services.
The discovery 80 years ago of a simpler method for magical transfer of text from one document to another by the FAR Order increased book distribution across all of Arathel. Despite this new technique, the process of reproducing entire tomes is still lengthy and expensive, requiring an arcane specialist. Thus, only large municipalities, wealthy merchants, and the noble classes can afford to purchase large numbers of books. In the homes of the common people of Fenlor, one is likely to find only one or two tomes, most likely a religious text and a family record of births, deaths, and events.
In larger municipalities and some larger towns, libraries can be found. However, except for the Royal Library in Hyton, these libraries are not supported by government funds, but locally funded. As such, who is allowed to access and borrow a library's books varies considerably depending upon the proprietor of the library. The most common users of these libraries are those who can afford an expensive education and are granted access by the funders, which are most commonly nobility who tend to limit access to those of similar social standing.
Politics
Government
Fenlor is ruled by an constitutional monarchy consisting of a law making body of nobles, a rudimentary court system, and a hereditary monarch. Although the Congress of Nobles enacts many laws and financial commitments, ultimate governing power resides with the monarch, including the final say on all government expenditures, activities, and laws. However, only the courts have the power to enforce the laws (including the power to order imprisonment and execution). Only in a time of war does the monarch command the power of life and death.Government Presence
Outside of the capital city of Hyton, the Fenloran Monarchy has little influence on the day to day lives of its citizens. Historically, the government has remained strongly centralized with a focus on the capital city and, to a lesser extent, the neighboring bridge cities. The previous two monarchs (King Anfrith IV (father of the the current queen) who ruled from 4466 to 4478 SR, and King Munder V who ruled from 4409 to 4466) focused on building up the economic strength of the nation and investing in learning and culture within the capital. These investments lead to several new technologies and an explosion of art and music that quickly spread throughout the larger cities of the kingdom. Outside of Hyton and the bridge cities, most cities and towns have small government offices with only a few staff, while towns and villages have no permanent government presence. These smaller settlements receive annual visits from a tax collector who shows up just after harvest each year. Besides the semi-regular military patrols throughout the kingdom, this single functionary is often the only government official many citizens see for decades.However, an expansion of the Monarchy's influence is on the horizon. Queen Sisira a'Dar IV recently made a series of speeches about the responsibility of the monarchy and the need for stronger governance of Greater Fenlor. In the most recent of these speeches, her annual Unification Day speech, Queen Sisira laid out plans for establishing regional government offices throughout Greater Fenlor. The new government offices will administer regional police and military functions, tax collection, education and technical training, and census activities. Since that speech, construction teams have been improving the roads between Hyton and the future "District Capital" locations and breaking ground on building foundations. When completed, this action will represent both the largest decentralization of government power in Fenlor's history, as well as the largest increase in government presence within Greater Fenlor. Royal observers also note that it will represent the greatest exertion of royal power beyond the reach of the Noble Houses in hundreds of years.
Seat of Power: Hyton
The capital city, Hyton, is located on Caelum Island in the center of Hyton Lake. It has four bridges that allow citizens and visitors to reach the city from four surrounding towns, known as the Bridge Towns. The fresh water surrounding Caelum Island and a small amount of arable land have saved Hyton from being conquered by invading armies several times in the The Somber Wars and the Four Cousins War. Indeed, no army has ever conquered the city in recorded history.The Noble Houses
Coming soon...Economy
It is a time of unprecedented prosperity for Fenlor. The past two decades have seen wealth increase throughout the nation, from the capital and bridge cities to the small villages of Greater Fenlor. Prior to the Blightsource Crater Explosion , The Kingdom of Fenlor was reasonably prosperous relative to the other nations of Arathel. However, the explosion caused an extended, decade-long economic downturn for Fenlor (as well as many other nations). Yet, new mineral discoveries in the Tanglewood March, re-population of the Blightsource Plain, government investment in mundane and arcane research and development, and a concentrated focus on improving trade networks across Arathel have yielded financial growth and a rapid economic rebound since.Mineral Resources
In Tanglewood March, a new and expansive adamantine vein was discovered in the Wyston Mine six years ago (4475 SR) by the Wyston Mining Company (a.k.a. Wymco). The vein is located within their existing iron and silver mine near the settlement of Wyston. Already a productive mine, the discovery of adamantine has brought increasingly large profits to Wymco, resulted in increased wages of mine workers through profit sharing, and spurred new technological breakthroughs at the University of Hyton in the realms of metallurgy and engineering.Agriculture
After the Blightsource Crater Explosion in 4451 SR (2501 CA), the former Havenwood Plain was left decimated, striking a deep economic blow to the bread basket of The Kingdom of Fenlor. The explosion destroyed large swaths of forest and farmland, leaving them barren due to the divine magics that scorched all life from the soil. The destruction pushed the borders of the Havenwood northward, expanding the area covered by the Blightsource Plain. Some parts of the plain still cannot be visited without protection as the land bears a foul odor that can render travelers nauseous or even diseased.In fact, for years the region was thought to be uninhabitable. However, royal survey teams moving through the area to document and quantify the explosion’s impact on the region found small patches of land with incredibly rich, productive soil. In all of the fertile areas within this band, the survey teams found peculiar ejecta material from the crater. Approximately gravel sized, the ejecta is made up of black pebbles, each with a single white, unfilled circular shape on one side. These black stones with open, white circles are now known as Darjur's Eyes and give the region its name: Darjur's Blessing.
Mapping out the extent of the rich farmlands took three years. Once completed, the survey found that the fertile regions formed within a semi-coherent swath stretching from the Blightsource Crater southward toward Brightwater Bay. The fertile areas were deemed fit for re-population, but convincing the first groups of colonists to return to the Plain was difficult and required incentives such as equipment, funds, and land grants. Now, most parcels of arable land have been claimed and several new villages dot the former Havenwood Plain. Despite the extensive colonization and cultivation, travel between these isolated villages or into and out of the region remains difficult due to the poisonous nature of the area. To facilitate necessary commerce and travel, a new protective potions industry developed. As demand skyrocketed for magical and natural elixirs to prevent Plains Plague and general nausea, a rash of entrepreneurs formed new business ventures to produce them.
Wealth and Wealth Distribution
In the past thirty years, the sudden expansion of new wealth and prosperity have spread relatively evenly across Fenloran society. In fact, new government building projects, agricultural expansion, and improvement of travel networks aimed at promoting trade all contributed to the rising levels of wealth and economic stability for most Fenlorans. Of course, during this time the nobility and the royal family are amassing dizzying sums, yet the lower classes are not left out of the economic boom times. Indeed, few fenlorans wonder where they will find their next meal.Society
Fenloran Society: Open to some
Since its founding, the Kingdom of Fenlor has been open and welcoming to all races of Arathel. Indeed, visitors to Hyton commonly see dwarves from Thagidal mixing with gnomes from Tanglemoor , and Novdolite elves bargaining with humans from all over Arathel. Many of the inhabitants of Hyton and the bridge towns are members of these (and other) races who choose to call Fenlor their home. Throughout Greater Fenlor, non-human races are less well represented, but are not uncommon. Many villages are visited by trade caravans bringing goods to sell within the Kingdom. Inevitably, a few non-human peoples join these towns and small villages as citizens. Despite the widespread mix of races, however, it is worth noting some members of society bear intolerant ideas or feelings toward some other races. Rarely does such intolerance manifest in an organized movement or group, but more commonly as individuals with racist tendencies.The open nature and attitude toward other races does not extend toward those who prefer members of their own gender as romantic partners. Both the laws of Fenlor and the attitudes of many of the citizens are, if not outwardly hostile, certainly unfriendly and uncaring toward homosexual members of society. For example, no law protects homosexual Fenlorans from discrimination in the work place, the legal system, or society at large. The legal protections that do exist include protection from assault due to sexual orientation and freedom to conduct intimate relations between members of the same gender. Yet, despite these written protections, many homosexual Fenlorans have been beaten and left bloodied in the streets of Hyton with little interference or follow-up investigation by law enforcement (enforcement in smaller towns varies significantly). In response to the callus regard of the Fenloran government and the ingrained prejudices of some members of the Fenloran society, an underground network developed to help homosexual (and other outcast) citizens by offering physical protection and providing aide with locating jobs, meeting socially, and combating discrimination of all forms. This network is known as the Fenloran Union of Non-conformists.
Class Divisions and Gender Equity
Despite reasonable income equality across the classes in Fenlor, a strict social divide between the classes still exists. Nobles only associate with other nobles and a few well-connected and wealthy business people. The business class strives for wealth and the respect of the nobles, but often forget that a generation or two previous many of them were working the land for a living. Advances in technologies and the meteoric rise in the financial health of the country have expanded the possibility for folks to raise their social standing through business ventures.Fenloran society has a patriarchal bent and is quite strict when it comes to gender roles. Males are considered capable of holding any place in society, but to be especially gifted intellectually (on average). In contrast, females are considered to be practical and creative, but lacking in the mental prowess necessary to pursue deep intellectual thought and debate. As such, males hold nearly all positions that require a higher education or are considered to be intellectual such as lawyers, educators, clergy, high ranking military officers, and members of the government. Females are considered unqualified for high level discussion and debate, but to be well suited for roles as craftspeople, artists, cooks, bakers, and low level administrators (e.g., secretaries). Interestingly, and possibly due to the great mix of races present in Fenlor, physical strength is not considered to be an important distinction between males and females in Fenlor. Indeed, both genders are found and accepted in the military and police forces, as are members of the fire brigade, blacksmiths, and other jobs requiring significant strength. However, it is rare to see a female achieve a rank much above sergeant and unheard of for a female to have any strategic role in military planning.
Recently, the ascension of Queen Sisira a'Dar IV to power in 4478 SR (2527 CA) shed a light on the role of gender in society. The Queen’s ascension did not result in any immediate substantive change, but suddenly the role of women in society and their intellectual prowess has been thrust into the spotlight. Although unusual, a Queen is not unheard of in the Kingdom of Fenlor. The previous Queen of Fenlor was Queen Sarra IV who reigned ~600 years ago, from 3835 SR to 3873 SR (1884-1922 CA). Queen Sarra IV took power after her aunt, Queen Joane II, suffered an unusual death from Explosive Spores that infected her body during a foray into the northern reaches of the Tanglewood Forest. During the reign of Queen Sarra IV there was a spectacular failure in military strategy by her general Enneth Bowe, which reinforced the bias of Fenloran Society against woman in positions requiring intellectual prowess. Most Fenloran males credit the current queen’s governing ability to her royal blood conferring an unusual sharpness of mind for a woman.
A man would be better, but she is of the line and the blood. The blood will sustain. - overheard in a Hyton tavern
God-Touched in Society
After the national depression caused by decimation of the southern part of the nation by the Blightsource Crater Explosion thirty years ago, the appearance a few months later of the first God-Touched children led to great rejoicing in the Kingdom of Fenlor. The clergy and many citizens interpreted the arrival of children bearing features of the gods as a sign that the gods did not completely abandon the world as many believed after the explosion. As the God-Touched grew and discovered they possess traits and abilities that reflect the gods, the view of them as blessings also grew in Fenloran society. It became tradition to offer small gifts or favors to God Touched who did you a good turn in some way. Often, those among the God-Touched who frequent various businesses receive small discounts or special consideration, the shopkeepers hoping to please the Gods.Recent events, however, are diminishing the warm and generous feelings of the citizens of Fenlor toward the God-Touched. First, the unexplained and sudden decrease in communication and influence of the Old Gods on Quel after the Blightsource Crater Explosion continues, leading many to question the initial interpretation of the God-Touched as a blessing from the gods (however, others view this as a test of faith). Second, waves of God-Touched are fleeing the Tataki Archipelago. In contrast to the view held in the Kingdom of Fenlor, on the Tataki islands the God-Touched are viewed as aberrations to be feared and reviled. This view stems from a belief that the God-Touched are products of divine dispute and discord. The Tataki attribute evil events and bad luck to the god-touched. Indeed, many families sacrificed their God-Touched babies to appease the gods in the first few months after the explosion. Those babes that survived have always been viewed as lower class citizens, but have been tolerated as members of Tatakian society until now.
Nine months ago the newly crowned Emperor Hiroshi of the Tataki Archipelago ordered a purge of all the God-Touched In Tataki. He pledged to “remove their scourge from the Empire”. The intense persecution and now deadly threat are creating a refugee crisis in the neighboring nations. Due to the historically favorable view and welcoming attitude of Fenlorans toward God-Touched, the majority of God-Touched refugees are seeking a new life in the Kingdom of Fenlor. Initially welcoming to the wave of God-Touched, Fenloran citizens are beginning to re-think their generosity. Ambury Temple will now only accept refugees who are deathly ill or severely wounded, Hyton is overloaded with slums of God-Touched, and in several of the bridge towns slums are threatening to form. With few existing social services, the political and financial strain is taking a toll on Fenlor’s coffers, as well as on the hearts and minds of the populace.
Technology in Society
Developments in both mundane and magical technologies have been rapid over the past 300 years. Advances took off after King Thamath V (4100-4151 SR), also called The Student, established the University of Hyton and the FAR Order within a span of ten years. As a result of work done by these organizations, small wonders of technology and arcane manipulation impact nearly every aspect of Fenloran life and society. Most advances coming out of the University of Hyton have stemmed from research in the fields of agriculture and engineering, and the FAR Order is well-known for developing arcane methods for document reproduction (discussed above), materials reinforcement, and lighting.Military and Religious Societal Influence
Additional, but secondary influences on Fenloran society include religion and the military. Religious belief and practice, although traditionally common among the citizens of Fenlor, has steadily declined over the past 30 years. The downturn is attributed to the sudden quiescence of the Old Gods after the Blightsource Crater Explosion . The belief in the Old Gods tends to remain strongest in Greater Fenlor, away from the cities. In Hyton and the bridge towns, several churches were forced to close or develop creative ways of attracting adherents willing to donate to the worship of the Old Gods. This trend has recently accelerated with the appearance of the New Gods and their priesthood who have opened new places of worship. In fact, some of the recently established churches to the New Gods are located in the shuttered churches of the Old Gods religion.The influence of the military on the daily lives of citizens depends upon the part of the country in which a person finds themselves. In the military fortress town of Forodost, daily life bears the direct imprint of military action and the military machine. However, in the large capital city of Hyton, although a citizen may see a soldier during the day, the military does not play a strong role in their citizen's daily actions or decisions.
Culture
In Fenlor, theater, music, sculpture, and literature are the most popular and developed forms of artistic expression. Secondary arts of note include painting, tile work, architecture, and fashion. These secondary arts, although not as sophisticated and widespread as the primary arts, are still commonly practiced. Other forms of artistic expression are rare.Theater
In Hyton, in addition to weekly performances at the prestigious (and expensive) Grotto Playhouse that houses the National Order of Fenloran Theater, a visitor to Hyton is just as likely to walk into an inn hosting a group of players as you are to find musicians playing the latest popular music. The popularity of theatrical performance has resulted in a profound admiration and respect for talented playwrights, most of whom tend to be women. Of the few Fenloran playwrights who have achieved international fame, perhaps the most lauded and successful is Alix Thurg. Playwright Thurg is famous for writing plays for the royal family, several noble houses, and two of the most successful plays ever performed by the National Order of Fenloran Theater.The tradition of plays and storytelling has a long history in Fenlor. Since the kingdom’s founding, the royal family has always funded a national theater company of one form or another. Indeed, the first King of Fenlor, King Rance I, was an avid consumer of theatrical performance and even sporadically performed in disguise (although this was not widely known until after his death). Outside the royal family, theatrical performances are woven into the lives of all Fenlorans. Customarily, players perform a theatrical piece to mark a person’s acceptance as an adult into society (at 14 years of age) and a person’s death. The play marking acceptance as an adult member of society (i.e., the Guidance Play) is usually an aspirational piece with a main character who undergoes hardship to achieve great happiness, financial success, or wisdom. The play is traditionally chosen by the parents or guardian of the young person who is coming of age. Nominally dedicated to a god, it is believed that a good performance will persuade the god to aid the young person to achieve similar successes as the main character. The young people themselves do not perform in their own Guidance Play as professional actors are thought more likely to please the gods. Recently, more and more Guidance Plays are being dedicated to the New Gods with faith in the Old Gods declining. Upon a person’s death, the family often hires players to perform a Life Play with themes of redemption, rebirth, and contentment. Wealthy families often employ a playwright to create a new play based upon events in the deceased’s life. The Life Play has traditionally been dedicated to Cronus to help usher the deceased through death’s door, but recently some have chosen to dedicate Life Plays to either Losse or Ndu, high gods in the pantheon of the New Gods. Naturally, with theater so ingrained in the lives of Fenlorans, it is common to come across troupes of players on the road traveling from town to town throughout the kingdom; troupes with good reputations command high prices for their services.
Music
Musical expression is primarily a folk tradition in the Kingdom of Fenlor. Originally a way of passing on stories unchanged through the generations, musical performance is now considered popular entertainment. Generally not considered as sophisticated an art form as theater or sculpture, music and musicians still enjoy a measure of popularity and respect. Successful musicians, both local and foreign, perform in the nation’s larger cities and towns. In addition to entertainment, music is also still used in its traditional manner, to spread information. The News Weavers are an organization of traveling bards who write songs and rhymes based upon recent events in the Kingdom, similar to the Bards of Norta. The Weavers travel the kingdom spreading news in exchange for various forms of remuneration. Although News Weavers are the preferred, and sometimes only way for illiterate lower classes to receive news of goings-on within the Kingdom, the nobility prefer written documentation of events; the royal network of Chroniclers provide such written documentation as they travel the Kingdom and report back.Sculpture
Government buildings and larger buildings of wealthy estates boast elaborate carvings and statuary as part of their design. Most such buildings have nature carvings covering their stone foundations (e.g., leaves, vines, etc) and a large primary sculpture or tympanum above the building’s entrance. The tympanum typically depicts the god who most closely represents the building’s use (government buildings), a representation of the owner of the building (estates), or the primary association of the group owning the building (guilds). Bucking tradition, Queen Sisira a'Dar IV, recently approved non-religious tympanum above the entrances of four regional government offices currently under construction in Greater Fenlor. Thirty years ago, such a choice would have lead to public and clerical outcry. However, most Fenlorans seem to have shrugged and moved on, a strong statement to the declining influence of the Old Gods in Fenlor. However, small groups of religious faithful and the clerical organizations privately communicated their strong protest to the Queen’s decision. These groups hope to change Queen Sisira's mind by convincing her that the Old Gods are not dead, but simply quiet and waiting for the people of Quel to reach out to them.Literature
The literary arts in Fenlor tie in closely with the traditions of Theater and generational story telling. Even illiterate Fenlorans hold authors and historians in high regard – holding to the cultural appreciation of recording events for future generations. Writing is viewed as a sophisticated art form that requires years of education and subsequent training beneath a skilled practitioner. Perhaps it is this view, as much as the expense of education, that keeps many common Fenlorans from learning to read and write: the belief that years and years must be dedicated to the process.The discovery 80 years ago of a simpler method for magical transfer of text from one document to another by the FAR Order increased book distribution across all of Arathel. Despite this new technique, the process of reproducing entire tomes is still lengthy and expensive, requiring an arcane specialist. Thus, only large municipalities, wealthy merchants, and the noble classes can afford to purchase large numbers of books. In the homes of the common people of Fenlor, one is likely to find only one or two tomes, most likely a religious text and a family record of births, deaths, and events.
In larger municipalities and some larger towns, libraries can be found. However, except for the Royal Library in Hyton, these libraries are not supported by government funds, but locally funded. As such, who is allowed to access and borrow a library's books varies considerably depending upon the proprietor of the library. The most common users of these libraries are those who can afford an expensive education and are granted access by the funders, which are most commonly nobility who tend to limit access to those of similar social standing.
Territories
The Kingdom of Fenlor consists of five primary districts including the Western Reach, the South Coast, the Blightsource Plain, the Tanglewood March, and the Central District (consisting of Hyton and the bridge towns of Ambury Town, Clewick, Forodost, and Yerwood).
For as long as anyone can remember, Fenlor's northern border has been quite poorly defined. Maps from previous decades show differing locations of the border depending upon how active the Fenloran military patrolled the north at the time. Recent funding cuts have decreased the northern patrols and the effective border of the kingdom only extends a bit north of Wyston in the Tanglewood, despite claims of a far northern border.
For as long as anyone can remember, Fenlor's northern border has been quite poorly defined. Maps from previous decades show differing locations of the border depending upon how active the Fenloran military patrolled the north at the time. Recent funding cuts have decreased the northern patrols and the effective border of the kingdom only extends a bit north of Wyston in the Tanglewood, despite claims of a far northern border.
The blood will sustain.
Maps
-
Fordost
The Bridge City of Forodost, Gateway to the March, located on the northern banks of Hyton Lake. -
Ambury Town
Founding Date
1737 SR
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Alternative Names
Fenlor
Demonym
Fenloran
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Traditional
Major Exports
adamantine, iron, silver, grains, flour, legumes, lumber
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
