Andol
Let Nyra hold you in her ever-enveloping shadows, my children! Do not fear the blazing light of the cursed sun, do not let the visages of her foul creations the Suntouched sway you from the righteous path, for Nyra is with us and her shadows will carry us through whatever challenges we may face on this cursed day!A zealous nation where the message of Nyra manifests as the One True Church, a fundamentalist form of the religion that views other branches of Nyra's Church as heretical. Only goblinoids, humans, and orcs, can hold citizenship in Andol while other races are residents at best. Andolan dogma views any outsider of the aforementioned species as under the influence of Aresnee and therefore misguided or willfully evil. The Inquisitors who run the nation have a strict Theocratic-military hierarchy currently led by the Arch-Shadow-Marshal, Arabella Velara Arano. Every Inquisitor serves the nation as a soldier-priest of Nyra and works alongside a Templar assigned to them from the day they begin their training. Templars, train in key martial skills but also learn some divine magic to enhance their martial abilities and serve as bodyguards, information gatherers, and troubleshooters for the Inquisitors they serve. Inquisitors and Templars serve together from the time they begin their training and are permanently paired at the end of their training cycles. Inquisitor training begins at the age of seven and runs until the age of eighteen for those who manage to survive or avoid expulsion when faced with the True Church's rigid tests. Inquisitors and Templars serve the nation for life and sit at the top of the nation's rigid hierarchy. The average Andolan citizen does not question the synonymous nature of the True Church and the law and they do not doubt the Church's place as the ultimate authority in all matters, secular and divine. Inquisitors holding the rank of Hospitaller Lieutenant, or higher, and barring interference by a more senior Inquisitor can order the death or imprisonment of anyone within Andol's borders. Higher-ranked Inquisitors possess the power to excommunicate entire towns and have them burned or put to the sword. The Church rarely deploys such draconian measures but a few such events early in the nation's history cemented their willingness to go to such extremes in the service of their goddess. Contrary to what many outside the nation believe, most Andolan citizens agree with and support this nation's policies believing in the strict Andolan version of Nyra's religion. They see other nations, particularly Arainia as indulgent and decadent places that will eventually face Nyra's righteous wrath. The Inquisition rarely needs to exercise its harshest policies within Andol and when they do the people of Andol remain confident that the offenders strayed from Nyra's blessed shadows. Most Andolans believe in strict applications of law and order and serve and defend their nation with unparalleled zeal. Those Andolans who do dissent or speak against the nation earn reputations as rabble-rousers corrupted by liberal Arainian policies or the deceitful practices of the elves, dwarves, or any other "impure" races not blessed by Nyra's grace.
Structure
Militant Theocracy.
Culture
Strict adherence to the divine Laws of Nyra as laid out by the elder members of the One Ture Church. The Inquisition permits actions and behavior not strictly forbidden by the Laws, but as the Law consists of several byzantine volumes that even most Inquisitors do not fully know, most citizens avoid any activities not firmly established by wide precedent and traditions. Andol's bellicose nature means that they field a massive military force. Every Andolan citizen who is physically able must serve 5 years in the military, and while Andol's Skyships lack the elegance and grace of Arainian's the nation more than compensate for these deficits with quantity, as Andol boasts nearly five times the vessels serving in Arainia's Sky Navy.
Andol places a high value on the efforts of tradespeople, craftspeople, and farmers, and the nation places a high value on the effort of the "common people" as righteous in the eyes of Nyra. Those not willing to do "honest work" face derision and disdain. Intellectuals who are not clergy or who study subjects outside church guidance, and anyone who does not work with their hands find little work or patronage in Andol. Furthermore, artists who attempt work not sanctioned by the church find little to no work in Andol.
Andolans favor simple clothing made of wool and the silk of the Andolan shadow weaver, small social spiders that form large in the hills of colonies on the Andolan peninsula. Shadow weaver silk's strength, abundance, and ease of collection makes it popular and relatively cheap. Andolans similarly favor simple weapons with hammers, sickles, axes, and other weapons derived from items that have purposes beyond their use as weapons being common. Andolans universally eschew swords as symbols of vanity not suited to the worker-centric culture of Andol. The Andolan people favor simple foods mainly consisting of lamb, fowl, fish, eggs, bread, cheeses, and homegrown vegetables with simple unassuming spices that might seem bland to outsiders. Most Andoalian have little formal education and learn the trades of their parents or seek apprenticeships in trades that will serve the nation and thus Nyra's glory.
Public Agenda
To spread the divine word of Nyrsa's blessed and enveloping shadows to a world that has forsaken her true message.
Assets
Andol lacks much in the way of fertile farmland due to a corruption of the nation's soil in a past blight, many villages are bale to maintain small collective vegetable gardens. The nation does have rich deposits of gold, silver, and excellent access to fishing. Hearty Andolan sheep are common and able to survive on the scrub grass and brush of the region. Massive oyster and clam beds near the nation's coasts also gives them access to valuable pearls in large quantities. These assets give Andol ample sources to fund the might Andolian warmachine.
History
Andol formed from a few more militant factions in the aftermath of the War of Liberation. These hardliners felt that the elves and dwarves deserved to pay a far harsher price for the Enslavement and some even called for the war to continue until the elves and dwarves were eradicated. Andol's continued paranoia that the elves and dwarves seek to enslave them again drives much of their foreign and external policies and their bellicose nature has led them to the brink of full-scale war and numerous smaller conflicts over the last several decades. Even nearly 150 years later, the Andolan church leverages the invasion of elven forces in 58 YL that precipitated the Shattered Tears War, to remind the people that the elves remain a threat, despite the elves making no major military efforts in over 14 deacades.
Founding Date
12 YL
Type
Geopolitical, Theocracy
Formation Type
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Trained
Demonym
Andolan
Leader Title
Notable Members
Comments