Once the homeland of the great Maronni empire, this gigantic lightning-shaped peninsula was torn apart into barbaric kingdoms, which then grew into one of the most cosmopolitan parts of the continent. Thalia is the land of poets and courtly princes, most wars are petty, small skirmishes, and when they become bigger they see more fighting in the court's feast halls than in the field.
The peninsula is limited to the north by the Halvedain mountains, to the west by the Stule mountain pass that leads to the Kingdom of Normand, and to the east to the Kingdom of Mythrelle. To the south only the sea and its islands are neighbors, although across the ocean many pirate raid have come from the caliphates of Tarica.
Almost being a stellar opposite to the Riamer peninsula of the Crown counties .Life in Thalia is easy and pleasant, for the most part. Bread and wine are plenty even for the poor and the lords know to keep their taxes low, they also know to constantly harass the domains. Bands of bandits, unemployed mercenaries or worse constantly roam the lands. Here the lords must constantly watch their backs, as their servants, their knights, even their own family will turncoat the second they look like they are on the losing side. The exception to this rule being the Condottiere mercenaries, who are extremely loyal to the terms of their contracts
There is no overall lord over Thalia, the diplomatic background is an ever changing array of noble families, traders, mercenary captains and court wizards. Religion is strictly fixed to Amaunator, but the ambition of power and its corrupting temptation have allowed the worship of demons and the arts of necromancy to run under the veil of darkness. The attempts of the Holy Zee to purge this heresy have been many, but none fruitful enough.
The Vanneti republic holds a domain over its capital, a veritable citadel grown over salty marshes with artificial foundations. Hundreds of canals go through the city, making travel by boat the favored method and allowing an obscene amount of cargo ships to dock in dozens of inner trade warehouses. Outside their capital they hold a few towns and forts, but around the world they own a couple of big cities and hundreds of smaller trade outposts. With these the vanneti are able to get any good to any client they have, as long as the price is good they are able to get it.
In a small island near the Thalic coast lies a city built by centuries of effort, taken from the sea and made into the heart of the biggest trade republic. Formed by survivors of the fall of the Maronni empire and the desire to regain grandeur, the Vanneti began as nothing more than settlers in their own lands. The marshes they fled to had plenty of fish and trees, but little land to farm, thus trade with the outside world became a must in order to survive. They became skilled in the arts of trade in which the barbarian invaders lacked, profited from their ignorance and soon enough began outgrowing their small island.
As explained in its name, the Vanneti do not rule themselves by a king or prince, rather, they follow old maronni roots and rule themselves as a Republic. In this matter, every Vanneti over the age of 25 takes part in the great council, who is tasked with the ruling of the city, the signing of its laws and the appointing of a Doge, their ruler. The Doge handles military and administrative affairs, with the only similarity with kings being that he rules for life.
Vanneti society is the most cosmopolitan of them all, trade is their life and money is their deity, the rest is secondary. Whilst Amaunator is the only openly recognized god, their churches are rife with merchants, and all attempts to cull heresy were mostly for show. Bargains with devils in exchange for riches are far from rare, and travelers bring many new, interesting religions for the extravagant city nobles to delve in. All magic arts are allowed, but illusion and enchantment magic are scorned, as they can be used to charm or manipulate fair trade. The vanneti people themselves are very open to new ideas and other peoples, as long as these ideas are not too deep and the peoples have deep pockets.
The vanneti army itself is nothing surprising. The doge himself has a respectable council guard of handpicked elite fighters. the so-called “Excusati”. They employ many citizen soldiers, these men are given the best kit money can buy, but no amount of money ever bought skill with the sword or a valiant heart. To cover these matters they employ large amounts of mercenaries, be them thalic condottiere, craot clansmen or bress brutes. As for a battle strategy, they don't have one, for their main goal is to never wage a war with their own troops. The vanneti preffer diplomacy, cunning and deceit over any pitched battle, which is understandable considering how expensive their mercenaries are, the skill of their own citizens and the brutality of their enemies, one of which is the ragozans.
Up where the Stule mountain pass meets the sea lies an ancient citadel with deep catacombs and tall cathedrals, where the masses mourn what passed away and pray for what is to come. The history of Arlequin is the history of a noble woman, who in the fall of the maronni empire made a last stand against darkness and paid the ultimate price. For this, the pope of the time, one Leonorius the strong, canonized her as a living saint of Amaunator, patron saint of lost causes. The living part remains more myth than fact today, as it is said that the saint retreated to the deepest catacombs under the city, to mourn the loss of the oldest heroes the city has on memory.
The Signoria reigns over a few chapel towns and abbots, but their main domain is the ancient city of Arlequin,once a great city of the maronni empire that saw more tragedy than its people could handle. As it stands the noble class of Arlequin has no distinction with the priestly one, so do the warring and educated folk. Knights pledge their allegiance to the signoria or the light of amaunator, mages study elden lore as well as the word from the lord, and the ruler is not chosen from the most influential knight nor the wisest mage, but from the holiest amongst the ladies. The current ruler is one Signora Orleana Ausmundus, the daugther of Estebano Ausmundus, Headmaster of the Knights Vigilant.
The people of the signoria are a quiet folk, sometimes even somber. The peasants know to keep their heads down then a knight passes, yet this strange submission is more a show of faith than fear. People put blind trust in the priests and follow their command as if Amaunator itself had ordered it, willing to work until exhaustion or keep fighting after suffering deadly wounds . As it stands, worship of any deity is not tolerated in the city, not even variations of the faith to Amaunator. The exception to this rule is the cult of the signoria itself, its love for the fallen heroes their catacombs hold. Most of the populace is made of humans, with a few half orcs and wood elves and an even smaller core of high elves, which generally are part of the nobles.
Raised in almost total seclusion the noble women of Arlequin are taught the arts required for running a state, the written word, the art of court politics and handling the people. Before the current signoria passes away she selects no more than three candidates for succession , which are voted by the rest of the city´s noble ladies, the priests of amaunator, the headmaster of the Knights Vigilant and the Father of the faith himself. The chosen is raised to be the following signoria, and rules the city until death takes her, but that is not an end of service for any anointed of the lord.
Wars, famines and plagues of the worldly and otherworldly kind struck the beleaguered city, yet it endured. The city´s catacombs run deep into the ground, full to the brim of the victims of its fate and countless heroes, all of which are prayed and taken care of by the masses of sanctified tomb keepers. To this day the reanimation of undeath is considered heresy by the church of amaunator, but it has been known that when the city most needs it it suddenly finds itself with many warrior knights encased in shining full plate armor to fight their wars, when plague strikes many priestly doctors appear in gowns that hide their whole bodies. These suspicions have always been quelled by the somber culture of the city folk, and the inquisition of Amaunator has deemed it not necessary to launch a single investigation.
The ancient city of Maroon was once the heart of the greatest empire in the continent, with its fall it became a dark, desolate place, but it now shines with the light of Amaunator. Churches to the god of light rise alongside the old ruins of the Great Fighting Pit, the amphitheater to the “sun god” and ancient statues of emperors and heroes of legend. The holy city is both the holiest site of the church as well as a living testament to what was lost when the maronni empire fell. Many adventurers seek permission to dwell into the ancient ruins that run deep under the city, and many more go without the church´s blessing, regardless of the consequences.
Whilst the church of Amaunator holds considerable domains across the continent, most of it is under the authority of bishops and archbishops, who obey the authority of the Father very indirectly. The domains of the Holy seat proper are the ancient city of Maroon itself, the surrounding villages and the coastal town of Neamaros. It borders the Kingdom of Anjou to the south and east, has the sea to the west and the Duchy of Argens to the north.
The population consists of humans, but with a large part of half orcs and high elves, a heritage of the maronni empire and the magerni tribesmen that conquered it. A few families of Halvedain Dwarves , gnomes, mogav half orcs from the crown county of Aguerre and a few bishops from anywhere in the world where Amaunator is praised. The populace is mostly made of semi wealthy craftsmen and servants to the priests, with farmers mostly living outside the city walls. Wizardry is not shunned, but also not promoted, with a certain disdain for divination magic as it is deemed it tries to gain the power only worthy of Amaunator and its servants. Necromancy and demon worship is unheard of, because the second it does a witch hunt is organized to squash it. The only faith is , of course, the faith to Amaunator, and to be specific, the dogma approved by the holy seat.
The priests of Amaunator are the theocrats of this small state, with The Father as their head, chosen amongst the college of Archbishops, who act much like the maronni senate of old, though strictly based on the written dogma. The word of the Father holds a lot of weight in the parts of the continent where Amaunator is praised, he being able to command many knightly orders, excommunicate whole countries, or even declare a holy crusade against something, turning half the continent against it. That being said, most of the time the Fathers have managed to hold control with simple letters, banquets and councils.
All of the priestly class is well educated, but very few amongst them have any experience with the sword, as such, the tasks of defending the domain of Amaunator are left to many a knightly order and mercenary companies. Of renown are the Halvedain guard, handpicked elite Dwarven halberdiers from the Halvedain league, tasked to protect The Father wherever he goes. The current Father of the church is one Marcolomeo de Baritea, who has taken the name Marcus the Sixth.
Spanning from the middle of the peninsula of Thalia all the way down to the end of its spiral, the kingdom of Anjou is one of many peoples, reigned over by normand nobles who have overstayed their welcome by their subjects, yet are beloved by priests and men of arms. The kingdom borders the Holy Seat of Amaunator, the Vanneti republic and the Duchy of Argens to the north, but the rest of the peninsula is theirs alone. They hold domain to over half of it, and most of the fertile soil.
The origins of this peculiar kingdom date back to the decline of Istvani control of the peninsula to the Leromer tribesmen. Fearing being completely dominated by the magerni as this was the time of the great king Rexus, the bishop of Maroon sent a letter to the Father of the church, which at those times had its seat of the normand city of Noviéglise. Father Dominic then invited the house of Anjou to lay claim to the lower half of the peninsula themselves, with the condition that they would renounce their small holdings in the Kingdom of Normand, thus being independent from the great king Rexus. Angevos The Young, the then head of the small house Anjou,made the fateful decision that would turn them into a veritable power in the world, and with their army they conquered the weakened Leromer, making them submit to their authority.
The ruling class of Anjou has since then relinquished all taste for violence, becoming diplomats, courtiers, traders and brokers, but refusing to even learn the language of their subjects. So big is their disconnect with their thalic subjects that they have adopted the moniker of “Les Idylliques” which was given to them as an insult.
As in like their ancient homeland, noble squabbles and infighting are commonplace, the many noble houses battle for power in the cities, domains in the fields and influence in the courts, a war waged by honeyed words and cunning tactics rather than military might, although many a noble has found itself falling from a high window at night, or accidentally falling onto their own sword. That being said, the rulers of the kingdom are well aware of how hatred they are by the commoners, and make the effort to look strong and united towards them.
The current king of Anjou is one Charles the Sixth of house Anjou, who surrounds himself with the personal bodyguard of Longbeards, Handpicked Leromer Dwarves skilled in the greataxe, sworn to loyalty by sacred oath consecrated under the light of Amaunator. House Anjou has invited other normand noble families as well as many hardy crownsmen from the crown county of Aguerre, and adopted many Leromer families as their men at arms. The waging of wars and submission of the populus falls to these men, and the many mercenary captains they hire with the vast wealth they have gained through trade and taxes.
The only openly praised god is Amaunator, as per the Seat´s command, but meddling in the correct circles will get you into some underground faiths, some harmless, others more interesting for the boring life at court or cruel life working the farm. People are openly segregated. with cities having quarters for the commoner thalic peoples, the noble servants, the mercenaries and always a small palace for Les Idylliques.
A few miles south of the biggest mountain passage to the Halvedain League lies a single walled city, with cunning lords and talented smiths. With ancient dwarven walls older than the maronni empire, mansions full of wealth on the surface streets and dozens of underhalls running beneath, this is a city full of history, known and forgotten.
Before the conquest by the maronni, this ancient city was mostly abandoned, with savage tribesmen having occupied it, trying and failing to access its buried secrets. After a swift conquest it was put under the banner of the empire, and for hundreds of years it prospered, although most of its underhalls were sealed off by the imperial authorities, fearing they may pose a bigger threat than a boon due to the large amount of slaves the city funneled to the home province. With the fall of imperial authority the city was occupied by barbarian tribes, one of which quickly recognized the opportunity buried underneath. The Laugrim, mountain dwarves, far cousins of the Leromer and renown craftsmen amongst the Magerni tribes almost declared war on their fellow tribesmen , but after a few skirmishes became the overlords of the ancient city.
With the centuries the Laugrim allowed more and more thalic peoples in positions of authority, and even converted to their religion, although to this day rumors of ancestor worship taking place on the deep halls remain. The thalians took almost full reign of the priestly class in the city as well as many minor administrative roles, but they shone in one single activity that the dwarves very rarely cared for, the art of trade. With honeyed words and promises of gold they convinced the master smiths not to try and create the best , but instead what is affordable and mass producible Laminese smiths are known to be some of the best of the world,their steel can be found across the continent, but the Halvedain and Duergar smiths foam at the mouth when yelling profanities to their name, with the same ferocity an inquisitor accuses of heresy.
The domains of the city state border the Vanneti republic and Duchy of Argens to the east, to the south they have the domains of the Holy seat, and to the west they are met by the Signoria of Arlequin. The republic barely has some watchtowers on their borders, preferring the walls of their cities to be the first thing the enemy crashes against. All of the few cities they hold domain over have seen magnificent walls raised and halls dug as deep as the wealth of the citizens allowed.
Despite their penchant for weapon making, the republic does not fancy war at all. The camara unterra do have the Ferrofiammare at their beckon call, an elite handpicked force of dwarven warriors clad in the best steel and armed with flaming axes, as well as hand cannons that guzzle white hot flames. The merchant lords of the surface rely on mercenary companies, and the city itself organizes semi-professional militia to fight with crossbow, axe and spear.
Like the Vanneti, the Laminese fancy themselves to be like the ancient maronni republic. Two chambers of councilmen govern the city affairs, these are the Camera Consigliere and the Camara Unterra. Every ten years elections are called, the consigliere are voted from the city's citizens, the unterra are voted by the unterra councilmen themselves, which have been with but 3 exceptions, all descendants of the Laugrim dwarves. This separation has kept the dwarven status as an elevated elite, this paired with the fact that only dwarves may delve deep into the ancient halls has created friction with the surface dwellers.
The laminese people are mostly craftsmen, merchants or servants, as there is very little fertile soil in their domains and even less interest for farming. The dwarves do keep small underground plantations of tobacco and roots, but these are luxury crops. As in the whole of the peninsula, Amaunator is the only recognized god, but the many attempts of the inquisition and holy seat to investigate claims of heresy and ancestor worship have always ended in warnings that the laminese smiths may not be able to continue providing weapons and armor to their lordships if they were to interrupt their work. As of this day, no official investigation has been launched. Magic has been left out, with very few mages in the city and no institution to train them inside of it. Dwarves prefer their ancestral methods of carving runes, a practice they have claimed is a form of enchantment, and most merchants have not found the use for court wizards, as there are no noble courts at all.
The current ruler of the duchy is one Duke Marcus The Third of house Gedanz, a house of elves that has known to make friends of drow and owlins. The heir is the oldest male highborn child of the Duke, but due to the politics of the duchy changes in dinasty are far from uncommon. To prevent untimely deaths house Gedanz has raised an elite bodyguard of owlins trained in stealth and vigilance, the so-called Guffors , who have kept their enemies at bay and their friends honest.
Against the Stule mountains between the Vanneti and the Laminese lies a republic of jewelers, mystics, miners and mountain folk. The Duchy of Argens, with its deep caves and high mountains would exclude itself from the world if it could, but since that choice is not theirs to make, they walk on the tightrope between three powers that would love to see it submitted to them.
Made around the city of Argens, old as the maronni repubic, the populace of the duchy is dotted with all the slaves that were brought to dig the silver from the caves.In the capital of Argens the owlins have raised half a thousand tall towers on their small patches of property, turning their home into the city of towers. Deep below ground the gnomes and drow turned the old mines into an under-city of its own, while halflings and humans herd cattle on the surface. The city is also known as the “The city of Towers” and the duchy is also known as “the land of a thousand nobles”
The duchy is technically independent and it pays no tithes to any other state, but it is well known that influence from other states seep through the hundreds of easily bought nobles. The importance of the silver they mine has brought the attention of the whole region, specially of their neighbors the vanneti and the lamin, but also of the maronnian emperor himself, who has openly supported house Gedanz.
Despite the immense number of nobles, the people of Argens enjoy a large amount of freedom. Taxes are almost non-existent as the nobles base their wealth off the mines and trade, laws are strict, but generally fair when the issue is within one´s class. Magic is widely used by the gnomes and high elves, but no institution exists to deepen this knowledge outside of the families. The official religion is the one praised by the Holy Seat of Amaunator, but no investigation has gone into the depths of the mines or under towns.
In times of war the duchy prefers to let the enemies come to it, relying on its harsh mountains and hordes of skirmishers to wear the enemy down, then make it crash against the walls of their cities. Owlins are known to fly high into the sky, then drop loads of stones into advancing armies, so are the halfling and gnomes renowned for their skill at sabotage and subterfuge. With the drow and wood elves attacking at night, no room is given for an attacker to rest whilst in the lands of the Argens.
The mountains of the duchy are well known for being extremely cavernous. Rumor has it that they contain passage to long lost dwarven holds, or to the Duergar Under empire, but so far the deep gnome explorers have claimed to never found anything going that deep. What is known is that these caves hold a lot of life, be it fauna or flora, and both being extremely dangerous to the outsider. People are advised to stay away from the unexplored caves, but many an adventurer party has been slaughtered trying to find lost riches or mythical treasures.
Spread across the Thalic peninsula one will come across many knightly chapter houses, the unexperienced will believe them to be mansions of moderately wealthy nobles or traders, but in truth, these are the holdings of the Knights Famigliare.
Also known as the silver-tongued order or the knights of the rose and prose, the order spreads peace across the peninsula by pulling on strands of influence, relying on the quill to be mightier than the sword. When war threatens to loom they are behind a letter sent to the correct noble, a rumor spreading through a court or the necessary people meeting in a place in which matters could be talked rather than sparred in the battlefield. They are present in every court of importance within the peninsula and on many more abroad, to the point that their presence is something of a status symbol.
The current master of the order is one Knight Dominico Del Toro, a bald hulk of a man with very little elegance and a master horse rider, known for preferring to deliver peace with his words and if need be his mace before using letters or favors. Many speculate about the number of chapter houses and members of the order, most agree that there should be no more two hundred knights, which explains why they are so thinly spread. They also take the tasks of being bodyguards for people they deem important for the peace, rooting assassins and conspirators out of courts, although the less engraced with them have called them out for being conspirators themselves, and some even have suggested that maybe the few failures they had in protecting their nobles were not failures, but just another way to get closer to the target.
Any noble without claim to property may try to be accepted into the knight's famigliare, for which they are tested in their persuasion skills as well as with the sword. The Rapier and the longsword are the preferred arms of the order, with many of them being renown duelists.