Kingdom of Strahld
Into each cup, some red must fall! And I hope, some falls into mine!
-Popular Vampyric music hall song
Structure
Voivode: The Strahldish term for 'ruler', the Voivode or Voivodess is a hereditary position, descendant from the first ruler of the otherworldly nation.
Underneath the Voivode, the Clans sit. The exact number of clans fluctuates, rising or falling with the whims of fate. Each one has a head, elected through popularity, merit, or might depending on each clans disposition and tradition.
Assets
- The Red Chalices
- Vhargulfs Roosts
- Kishiald Fruit
- The Piturca Group
- The Dragosi Blood Vault
History
The history of the Vampiric people, on Sol Nua at least, is one of great tragedy broken only by great luck marred by their circumstances. Dropped onto our world like so many others, the vampires found that they were deprived of the one thing that they needed to survive...for the most part. Blood. Each and every vampire must drink blood like the rest of us must drink water. Without it, they suffer from a painful dehydrative state and die, much like anyone else. This wasn't an issue for them on their home plane as, according to the ancients still around from the time, the sky itself suffered from exsanguination and blood would rain from the sky, and filled the lakes and rivers. Well, 'blood' would actually be inaccurate, but the substance was similar enough
In any case, they lost access to their most basic resource when the Realmshatter occurred and dropped them right into this world. This is how they were lucky. They could have fallen onto a world that didn't have a drop for them to drink, but instead wound up here. Where their luck turned and punched them in the face. Blood could be found, but only within the living. Knowing that they would have to do monstrous things to survive, they scattered to the winds, for it would be all the harder for them to be tracked that way. And that's how it was for an Age. Then another. The whole time spent running around the shadows and grabbing what they could to drunk, only to be found out eventually and chased out of town by the local holy men.
That was until a Red Chalice was found on the uninhabited continent of Detlod. The Red Chalices were arcane artifacts that had almost no worth to the Vampires before they fellow through, but now the were invaluable to them. Able to take a single drop of blood and turns it into a never-ending supply to drink. The news spread, and soon whole clans were reunited as they sailed for Detlod, intent on finding the cup. When the clans arrived, they learned the truth of the matter. A chalice had not been found, but the chance to find one had. A portion of a Vampiric city, buried during the Realmshatter. And so they started digging for their salvation. Clans scattered across the ruins, quickly establishing dig sites and territory. It very quickly became a competition.
Then the competition became a brawl.
Then the brawl turned into a war.
After more than a year of searching, the clans started to blame each other for the lack of progress. They became even more territorial, carving out territories and fortifying positions from which to skirmish. Ten tense years passed with the clan's attention divided between scrambling through the dirt and clawing at each other before any progress towards a chalice was made. In the form of one being found.
Clan Vlasheska, a relatively small clan at the time, had found one in an ancient vault sealed far below the city. Supposedly, it was the only one of a great deal that survived the passing of the Realmshatter. But one was all they needed. A single drop of blood and they ensured their livelihood. Drelkard Vlasheska, patriarch of his clan, rallied his fighters and struck out against the clans that had arrayed themselves against his kin. Now what would be known as the Sanguine War could start in earnest. Fourteen years would pass as Drelkard faced his enemies. The crucible of battle proved his tactical mind as he pulled his enemies apart piece by piece, before incorporating their strength into his own. At the end of it all, he had the most powerful vampire clans on the planet on their knees in front of him. He wished, out of all things, to discuss peace. All that would be required would be for the warlords to swear their fealty to him. Many openly scoffed. A sound that didn't last very long before their heads hit the ground. To the remainder, he presented each a chalice. His wife had spent the course of the war unweaving the enchantments on the hallowed artifact to learn them, and she had finally succeeded. Each one gave these heads the ability to forge their own bloodline and quickly got them to sign the peace agreements, no matter how heavily stacked they were in Drelkards favor. And now they could rebuild, as a united people.
And what better place to establish the capital of a newly born people, then the remnants of the old? Jokes aside, the foundations of the ruined vampire city provided a ready-made location to build a civilization. As the bricks were being laid Drelkard met with Velkan Lasomere and posed a question to him.
"Velkan, my friend, this city shall be the heart of our people in the coming centuries. Such a place requires a moniker that shall stand the test of time...And I cannot think of a single acceptable answer. I was less nervous when the other clans were out to carve the heart from my chest."
"Well, why don't you call it what it is?"
"I don't follow..."
"Our Heart, my friend, it shall be our Heart."
Of course, a shiny new name does not a country make. As the finishing bricks were being lain in Heart, word reached the outside world of the nascent nation of vampires. Nations were in an uproar. Ideas about vampires, outmoded by our current society, fueled a visceral reaction from many nations. The Kingdom of Avalon and Tir Na Nog were united for once, in the idea that the new nation should be stomped out before the world was infested by blood drinkers. Joining their podium were several smaller nations, such as Skeyl Thil, a minor nation that has long since been swallowed up by the kingdom of Avalon. Opposing them, was the still-young nation of the Iron Republic, as well as the newly introduced nation of Xa'uatal and their allies, who argued that Strahld had as much right to exist as any of them did. While the larger nations bickered over what should be done, if anything, they didn't notice the emissaries from Skeyl Thil leave the conference. They had decided to put an end to the issue themselves. Their mobilization didn't go unnoticed by anyone, and with the risk of the conflict escalating apparent to all involved, they sailed across the ocean unopposed. Instead, players started moving pieces on the board. Avalon and Tir Na Nog bankrolled the whole expedition, allowing the army of Skel Thil to swell in size. The Iron republic sent military attaches to Strahld, helping to train their soldiers in regimental combat.The sorcerers of Xa'uatal covertly hindered the Skeyl Thilian fleet but conjuring storms and sending them across the ocean. But only so much could be done to buy time, and a few months later the sails of the fleet could be seen off the coast. Within the week 60,000 men, led by an unknown general by the name of Edussil Lamnaissin, had landed and started marching towards the capital.
While Drelkard had led his clan to victory just under two decades prior, he found that leading an official army to be a much different beast to slay. Where once he knew every one of his officers personally, now the members of his clan made up only a portion of his 25,000 man army. He could not rely on his officer corps with complete trust, and so they would have to prove themselves. Unfortunately, they would have more than enough chance to do so. His soldiers were well trained by the finest the Iron Republic had to offer and equipped to the standard at the time, but being outnumbered by more than two to one is a large hurdle to overcome.
He couldn't wait for them to come to him. He needed the battlefield of the paramount first battle to be of his own choosing. Force marching east from Heart, his army found itself on the banks of the Duban river. Staring right into the eyes of the Skeyl Thilians. If the armies had been evenly matched, they may have slugged it out over the river fords. As it was, the Skeyl Thilians immediately forced their way across, meeting only token resistance as the vampires retreated with the flow of the river. Harried by cavalry, they only had one chance. The Skeinder Mountains pass. Plunging headlong into the pass, Drelkard hoped to make a stand, using the natural bottleneck to his advantage. Coming across an area in the pass that widened slightly, his men entrenched themselves and waited. And waited. And waited. The enemy cavalry should have hit them by now. At the very least probed them. Drelkard sent scouts back the way they came, but just before they left the entrenchment, screams could be heard. Up the pass came a handful of Skeyl Thilians were running like a host of demons were following them. Then the creatures rounded the corner. A trio of them as large as a modern tank, and lead by a big one with red fur, these creatures looked like bats. Long forelimbs, with the vestiges of leathery wings, pulled them forward with shocking speed for their size. The Skeyl Thilians ran right between the vampire's lines as they prepared to fire.
The pieces finally clicked in Drelkard's head, about what these monsters were. Varghulfs, just like the old stories his father would tell him. Records from his soldiers state that a shout to stand down nearly went unheeded as he marched in front of his own lines towards the beasts. He did not draw his saber, nor make any attempt to defend himself, even when the creature leapt for him, tackling him into a roll. And started licking his face. As it turned out, Varghulfs live a very long time, and the ones that had been living in the pass remembered their old masters and had missed them dearly. It didn't take long to figure out that the persuing cavalry had been torn to shreds by the nest of Varghulfs, nor to follow the red-furred one back to the larger nest. They were all too ready to be ridden again, requiring almost no training to carry a squad on the back and into the fray.
With his newfound Varghuilf corps, Drelkard knew he finally had the edge that he needed. Will the details of the rest of the war are interesting and bloody, it boils down to victory for Strahld. Evident in the fact that the country still exists to this day. Drelkard Vlasheska would rule as king until the day his daughter turned 16 and then vanished. Where the father of the vampiric nation remains a mystery to this day. Reportedly, his last words stated that "I trust the product of a majority of my lives work to my daughter, who has the strength to guide it into the next age."
The kingdom, as well as many outsider nations, have attempted to track him down, but each one ended in failure.
Currently, tensions have sparked between Strahld and their neighbor, the Free Necropoli. It is not the government of the Free Necropoli, but with a rising civilian faction that holds a grudge against Vampiric government. Stating that Detlod, by rights, belonged to them.
Demography and Population
An isolated nation, not by their own choice, but that of the rest of the world. While many prejudices of the previous Ages have been worn away in this new age of information, many people would rather stay away from a nation of people who do something like drinking blood, which most people find abhorrent.
Military
Red Fangs: The most common troop in the Strahldish military, they are equipped for knockdown drag-out fights. Expert storm-troopers, their doctrine is to get into the face of the enemy and stay there.
Religion
The Crying Mother is one of the only holdovers from the Vampires home Plane. It is said that Avna created the Vampiric people to ease her own loneliness. But, a foul wind tore her children from her grasp, and bore them down to the surface that would be their home until the Realmshatter. The rain that fell on that world, similar to blood, was said to be Avna's tears as she sobbed for her lost children.
Agriculture & Industry
A highly agricultural nation, the soil of Detlod has proven itself to be conducive to the growth of several kinds of fruit. Specifically the alien Kishiald Fruit that is most commonly grown in the orchards of birch like trees that bears the red-fleshed fruits.
Education
An education is pursued by the nobility and the middle class. with the lower-class remaining on their farms and orchards.
Founding Date
796, Age of Insurrection
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Formation Type
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Trained
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Market economy
Currency
Strahldish Syli: A white note with red highlights, it bears the image of a medieval-style chalice bearing a teardrop-shaped gem on one side, with the symbol of the Vlasheska clan; a stylised vampire bat on the other side.
Official State Religion
Neighboring Nations
Related Ethnicities
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