Keoland
Older even than Aerdy in the Flanaess is ancient Keoland, mainspring of the Sheldomar Valley. The foundation of Keoland, represented the birth of the first postmigration human kingdom in the Flanaess. For nearly a millennium, the Keoish heartlands have spanned the lands from Gradsul at the Azure Coast to the Rushmoors in the north, between the great Sheldomar and Javan rivers in the east and west. These lands are some of the most provincial and bucolic in the Flanaess, having been largely untouched by war and conflict for centuries.
Structure
Keoland is a true monarchy in that its kings rule for life and have great powers and authority at their disposal, but officially the government is a permanent regency. Ruled in the trust of the noble houses, the matter of succession has always resided in the Council of Niole Dra. This deliberative body, composed of the major nobility and heads of certain long-established guilds and societies in the kingdom, has the responsibility to authorize succession and oversee matters dealing with the nation’s founding charter. It is the founding charter, penned some nine centuries ago, that ascribes rights and obligations on the part of all the citizenry of the country, whether lowborn or high. The Throne of the Lion, the office of the king of Keoland, is besieged by factions who constantly demand his attention, making changes or decisions often painfully slow in coming. Most of these petitioners are peers of the realm, who have varied and often conflicting self-interests.
Culture
The folk of the land can be friendly and generous, but they are primarily noted for their superstitious natures, particularly their wariness of foreigners. The people are a mixture of Suel and Oeridian bloodlines, well blended for the most part in the provinces of the nation, except in certain rarefied circles such as the nobility and other closed societies. Flan still exist in small pockets in the kingdom, no longer numerous in the heartlands and now driven to the peripheries of the valley. The common tongue is spoken here, but the primary dialect is called Keolandish. The speech of the common folk is highly recognizable for its accent.
Assets
The climate is customarily temperate year-round and the soils of the central valleys are rich, allowing the kingdom to grow wheat, rye, and other grains in great abundance. The country has never been rich in terms of mineral wealth, and perhaps for that reason it has always conducted a brisk trade with its neighbors, to whom it supplies staples such as foodstuffs in return for hard coin.
History
Keoland was the first major kingdom to be established in the Flanaess, the Oeridians and Suloise tribes mingling and joining to build a tolerant and prosperous realm which nominally included many and varied demihuman groups as well. After several centuries of benign leadership, a line of monarchs upon the Keoish Throne became ambitious and embarked upon a policy of conquest. At the peak of this imperialism, Keoland held sway from the Pomarj to the Crystalmist Mountains, while her armies pushed into Ket and threatened Verbobonc and Veluna City (c. 350-360 CY). The Ketite expedition came to grief in successive battles (Molvar, Lapolla), while an alliance between Veluna and Furyondy ended the Keoish threat in that quarter.
Coincidentally, the Olvenfolk within the boundaries of Keoland objected to the warlike policies of the King and began expelling royal garrisons in the Ulek Provinces and Celene. In the ensuing struggle, the freemen of the western portion sided with the demihumans. Raiders in the far south took advantage of these conditions to harry the Keoish coast from Gradsul to Gryrax.
Technological Level
For most of Keoland’s history, the study of magic was banned to its citizenry, and its practice was restricted to secret societies and certain nobles. Little evidence is seen by the casual observer of powerful wizards’ magic, as commoners fear those who practice spellcraft. Many priesthoods are present in the realm, though religion was never a dominant force in the kingdom, either.
Foreign Relations
Relations between Keoland and the Prince of Ulek are strained from the latter’s economic alliance with the Lordship of the Isles, so support of the latter’s Pomarj campaign remains tepid. One of the Dukes wants to build a dozen new frigates to contend with naval threats on the Azure Sea, and he courts an alliance with Irongate. Rumors come out of Dorlin about cases of madness in certain families of the Neheli. Monsters plague the southern frontier.
The Kingdom of Keoland is the center of the western Flaeness.
Founding Date
–342 CY
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Market economy
Currency
Keoland Standard: griffon (pp), lion (gp), eagle (ep), hawk (sp), sparrow (cp)
Neighboring Nations