Nations

This is a list of all the nations on the world of Ayaria.

Westfal

To the west of Nostrum is the land of the Empyreans, or at least who once were Empyreans. Colonized many generations ago by that vast empire, after the fall of the imperial heartland, Westfal is all that’s left of their imperial legacy. They, like Nostrum, have a strong martial tradition. Unlike Nostrum, they mostly fight amongst themselves as they have no major rivals on their borders. While once they were atheistic as the Empyreans were, they have within living memory become dominated by a single religion in devotion to the Heiress.

Westfalians speak Westfalian, a language modeled after fantasy German.

Westfalian Traits

These are some of the traits someone from Westfal would likely have.

Name	Description
Ghastlander	Ghastlanders are more resistant to disease as a result of adapting to an environment where it is rampant. Their effective Prowess is doubled for the purposes of determining whether or not they would contract a disease.
Valeman	Valemen are renown for their physical endurance, able to toil all day at tasks that would quickly exhaust others. They are able to physically outlast anyone else without this or a similar trait.
Equestrian	Westfalians are renown for their love of horses, particularly fighting on them. For any checks relating to horses or horsemanship, this Westfalian increases their effective Cleverness by half again.
Empyrean Historian	This character has learned to speak and read the Empyrean language, and through study has learned much about the history of the ancient empire and its exploits.
Stormholder	Stormholders are adapted to life in the mountains. Stormholders increase their effective Cleverness by half again for all checks related to navigating and surviving on mountains.
Bernician	The wilds around Bernicia have long resisted taming, and so the humans there have learned to adapt to the wilds. Bernicians increase their effective Cleverness by half for all checks related to navigating and surviving forests.
Eastlander	The average Eastlander lives half their life at sea, whether that be on rivers, the canals in their cities, or navigating the bay that their territory rings. Eastlanders increase their effective Cleverness by half again for all checks related to navigating and surviving on water.
Metropolitan	This character is adapted to the strictures of city life. When in a densely urbanized environment, their effective Cleverness increases by one. When outside of such environs, their effective Cleverness is reduced by one.

Nostrum

The game is currently set on the continent of Nostrum. Nostrum is ruled by a king, but only around one third of the continent is under his control at all times. Much of the continent is made up of rugged, largely uninhabited terrain. There are two major cities: Redwine and Luten-Augusburg.

Nostrumites speak Nostrum, a language modeled on english and a little bit of fantasy Japanese.

Nostrum Traits

These are some of the traits someone from Nostrum would likely have.

Name	Description
Militiaman	This character was trained from a young age to do their part in a Nostrum militia. Their effective Prowess is increased by one when fighting with a spear or bow.
Burgher	A native of Luten-Augusburg, this character had adapted to life in a heavily urbanized environment. When in a densely urbanized environment, their effective Cleverness increases by one. When outside of such environs, their effective Cleverness is reduced by one.
Clansman	A Nostrumite from the mountain clans, they have adapted well to living in the rough terrain of their homeland. Clansmen increase their effective Cleverness by half again for all checks related to navigating and surviving on mountains.

The Kingdom of Two Valleys

Marauding slavers, whose power far eclipses the rest of the known world. It is a place spoken of in fear. It has strange technology, stranger magic, and the immortal Valleymen are hated and feared.

Valleymen from Cthonia speak Cthonic, a language which has no real life corollary. Any other lineage from Cthonia does not learn it for free.

Cthonic Traits

These are some of the traits someone from Cthonia would likely have.

Name	Description
Runaway	This character made an agreement with Valleymen, and then managed to escape The Kingdom of Two Valleys. Their true name is known to the Valleymen, and they are being pursued. They can raise any attribute of their choice by one, reflecting the nature of their life there.
Slaver	This character has made a living taking others into bondage and keeping them there. When using a weapon against someone who is unarmed, their effective Prowess raises by two.
Hunter	This character has made a living finding those who have wronged others. For all checks related to finding or pursuing another character, they increase their effective Cleverness by half again.
Apologist	Some people have no moral compunctions about dealing with Valleymen, living and working in the Wet Markets as if it were any other city. Though they were not raised to speak Cthonic, they have learned it and many details of Cthonian culture through study.

The Narrows

A client kingdom of the Valleymen. On the thin strip of shore between the coast and the mountains, stretching for a few hundred miles north to south, are ten large cities where all the inhabitants live in opulent splendor. That is, except for a single tax paid every generation by each city: thousands of people stolen from their homes and forced into bondage.

People from The Narrows speak Nostrum.

Narrow Traits

These are some of the traits someone from The Narrows would likely have.

Name	Description
Wallow	This character has grown used to hiding among others. When trying to hide in a crowd of people, their effective Cleverness is doubled.
Metropolitan	This character is adapted to the strictures of city life. When in a densely urbanized environment, their effective Cleverness increases by one. When outside of such environs, their effective Cleverness is reduced by one.
Harmless	This character has had their interest in violence and rebellious spirit stamped out. If their Prowess is at zero, their other two attributes increase by one.

Suzer

A city-state on the edge of endless desert. It is a rich and mercantile land, protected by its high walls, the inhospitable desert, and the vast fleet that the Lord of the Sands maintains for civil defence.

Suzerians speak Nostrum.

Suzerian Traits

These are the traits someone from Suzer would likely have.

Name	Description
Desert Clansman	Desert clansmen are adapted to life in the deserts around Suzer. They increase their effective Cleverness by half again for all checks related to navigating and surviving in deserts. Their effective Prowess also increases by one when fighting an adversary more armored than they are.
Metropolitan	This character is adapted to the strictures of city life. When in a densely urbanized environment, their effective Cleverness increases by one. When outside of such environs, their effective Cleverness is reduced by one.
Mithridatic	It is not unheard of for both Suzerians and desert clansmen to try to inoculate themselves against common poisons through regular exposure. For most poisons, they must be inflicted with two doses instead of one for the poison to have any effect.

Turia

A small peninsula on the same coast as the Narrows, a colony founded by Westfalians. It is ruled by a grand duke, who nominally answers to the emperor but given the vast distance in their borders is largely independent. Despite its small size and proximity to the Narrows, it has avoided conquest by the Valleymen.

Turians speak Westfalian, though their accent is quite distinct from their homeland's.

Vizar

Likewise the even smaller city-state of Vizar, also off the coast of the Narrows. Where Turia has defended itself from military aggression with force of arms, Vizar has done so through a mix of treaty, submission, and rarely naval power. That it is built largely onto a lagoon and so difficult to invade, as well as an overt willingness to work with Valleymen despite their unsavory culture, has kept Vizar independent and its merchants especially privileged to sell the exotic goods of the east to the rest of the world.

Vizarians speak Nostrum.

Saltpetre

A strange and insular land, it is isolated from the rest of the world except for a single port. There have been attempts at foreign conquest or taking the kingdom into the sphere of influence of a larger realm, but this has been stifled in large part by the nation's longstanding policy of only employing natives in high positions. That, and that they are the manufacturing center for almost all of the world's blackpowder and firearms.

Those from Saltpetre speak Nostrum.

Blackport

A former penal colony, now its own independent realm. Blackport is ruled by a meritocratic council of merchant elite, but its potential is hampered by the extremely inhospitable conditions at its borders. Most people know Blackport only for its extreme isolation, at the edge of what most consider the known world.

Those from Blackport speak Nostrum, or sometimes Kazakin.

Name	Description
Kazak	Kazaks speak their own language, Kazakin. When fighting on horseback, they gain a bonus of one to their Prowess.
Metropolitan	This character is adapted to the strictures of city life. When in a densely urbanized environment, their effective Cleverness increases by one. When outside of such environs, their effective Cleverness is reduced by one.

Those Who Lie in the Shadow of the Tower

The elves who remain in their ancestral homeland, though few in number, are protected from the rest of the world mainly by virtue of distance and isolation. Elves who have fled their homeland speak of the great tower that once served as a symbol of their people having collapsed, and its ruins spread all around their homeland.

Elves who left the shadow of the tower speak Empyrean, though they call it Aurum. Empyrean is modeled after fantasy Latin.

The Warrens

Under the earth, there are thousands upon thousands of tunnels, chambers, and strange things left behind by the Hours and the Artificers. Long abandoned now, these places are inhabited by a mix of monsters and refugees from the surface. The largest civilization beneath the earth is by far the Verumii, but there are pockets of other civilizations down there.

Verumii speak Empyrean, though they call it Aurum. Empyrean is modeled after fantasy Latin.

Elsewhere

Someone from anywhere other than the places listed herein. Someone from "elsewhere" does not get any traits related to their nation or homeland.