Nostrum

Not the largest, nor the strongest. Nostrum sits in the center of everything, in the middle of the sea dividing all the powers of the world from each other. Nostrum (the continent, kingdom, and language share the same name) is the lingua franca of the world.

Demographics

It has a large population of mainly humans. Elves are welcome there as well, though do not have as many advantages or privileges as a native Nostrumite. The third largest demographic in Nostrum would be Beastmen, but they do not tend to live in the major cities, or if they do they tend to keep to their own quarters like elves. Valleymen are rare to see unless they are bound to the Immortals, as Cthonia's long history of invading Nostrum for slaves has made them rather unpopular there.

Institutions

Nostrumites consider themselves a free people. They weigh freedom as being free from something, not necessarily freedom to do whatever they may want. The common man is protected by the king, who himself is not strong by comparison to contemporary rulers. By tradition, the king owns nothing but holds his land in common with the people, who are free to work it without charge or being bound to the land by grace of the king.

As such, the institutions of Nostrum do not necessarily have any executive oversight at all. The monarch is in a delicate position: do too much, and the people will call them a tyrant; do too little, and the people will wonder where their protector is.

Militias

From the moment people set foot on Nostrum, they were in danger. In those early days, it was likely danger from other people on Nostrum primarily. After the Valleymen set out on their raids however, those became the main threat. And when the Empyreans invaded, then the Empyreans. After the Empyreans, then the Westfalians. Nostrum is in constant danger from threats within and without, to the point that a mere landed aristocracy could not hope to keep the nation safe.

Nostrum is a famously martial society. From the time they are children, everyone in Nostrum from the youngest princes to the old and wise are expected to learn the spear and bow. For some, this is all they ever learn. For most, they learn other professions as well as they grow into adulthood, but are expected to always be ready for attack.

Mercenary Companies

It is said that Nostrum's primary export is mercenaries and adventurers. Another common saying that of all the professions in the land, only whores and farmers outnumber mercenaries on the isle.

By tradition, when a village is destroyed in a raid and its villagers cannot rebuild, they will remain together. And without a field to till but with spears in hand, will form a mercenary company. Soldiers are always landed across the world, sometimes in Nostrum but more often in Westfal where a thousand petty wars are fought a year. So in order to stay together, the villagers turned mercenaries will leave their destroyed fields behind to try and make a new life somewhere safer.

That is tradition. What isn't tradition but it just as common is simply that there are a lot of people who know how to fight on Nostrum, and a lot of money to be made by those brave enough to fight. Even those who wanted to live a simple life are often forced to take up the spear in defence of their homeland, and having done so, realize it's for them.

The reputation of Nostrum's mercenaries is quite poor outside of their homeland. This is in part simply because foreigners, especially foreigners with weapons, aren't generally trusted. It is fair in some regards, though: Nostrumites who find themselves at opposite sides of a battlefield will often refuse to fight their fellow countrymen. And if Nostrum is in danger, often the mercenary companies will break contract and go home to defend their homeland.

The Great Houses of Nostrum

Nobility is not strictly a matter of bloodline in Nostrum. It is common for those who have been elevated to the heights of nobility to adopt children they share no relation with, and these children by adoption share the same rights and privileges as their children by blood under the laws and customs of the land. Occasionally, even adults will be adopted into a noble house.

There are really three castes of person in Nostrum society: nobility; freemen; and, villains. A noble is someone who is bound to a noble house, of which there are many, though most are impoverished and largely unknown. A freeman is someone who is not bound to nobility nor to land, who roams Nostrum freely. A villain is someone who has been born somewhere, worked there all their life, and have never left far. They are not, as is often the case in Westfal, bound to the land they work on like serfs.

The House of Fallen Leaves

Let the Mighty Tremble

The House of Fallen Leaves have ruled Nostrum for the last nigh three hundred years. In that time, they have faced great opposition but rarely from the subjects they rule. Always the nobility who have put themselves at odds with the king, seeking to subvert his rules and judgements. A strategy of stripping power away from the nobility and continually empowering the smallfolk has so far served well for the house, and they have had the good fortune to remain popular among commoners through most of this time as well.

Immortals

Valleymen have always been the enemies of Nostrum. They are hated, feared, loathed. The Red Years is a term for when the Valleymen left The Kingdom of Two Valleys on their massive warships and began to enslave as much of the world as they could. Because of Nostrum's proximity to the Valley, they have suffered the most in this.

And over the centuries, Nostrum has tried to fight back. Valleymen are extremely difficult to slay, and capturing them in battle is only slightly easier. But it has been done. Over the last several centuries, Nostrum has captured a little over one hundred Valleymen during their slave raids. These Valleymen have all been pressed into the king's service, bound to his will by a series of elaborate oaths invoking the true names of each Valleyman.

They are called the Immortals, and are the king's personal guard. It is said that fear of this personal guard is in part what has kept The House of Fallen Leaves in power for so long, for in all the time they have been in the service of Nostrum's kings, none have ever fallen in battle.

House Vance

By the Hand and Eye

House Vance has always had a strange place in Nostrum society. One of the youngest houses in the realm, it rose to prominence when the house’s founder John attempted to assassinate the king. Instead of have the man put to death, the king took him into his service. While John only ever rose to the ‘measly’ height of being the king’s personal advisor, he took a wife while in the king’s service and by her had three sons, and those three sons themselves grew in prominence, ultimately founding House Vance.

Little is known of House Vance, what work they do for the king, where their centers of power are. However, one thing that is known about them are their two most powerful relics.

The Hand

The Progenitor of House Vance was most known for his work in grafting, so much so that his very body possessed great magical potential. It is a grisly tradition of House Vance to graft the hand of John Vance onto the body of their greatest warlock.

The Eye

As with the hand, but John Vance’s eye. Sometimes both are given to the same warlock, sometimes to two warlocks of different specialties as the hand has more use in combat, and the eye more use in subterfuge.

House von Sabot

Beware the Witching Hour

Unique among all houses in Nostrum great and small, von Sabot are a house from Westfal. The von Sabots first came as proselytizers, trying to spread the faith of the Heiress. When the empire of their homeland attacked Nostrm, von Sabot were granted a chance to fight for Nostrum and they took it. Eleven of the twelve leaders of their house died, and the final member of von Sabot was later granted rights to some land, and from there their power gradually grew.

Unlike the rest of Nostrum, von Sabat is a bastion for Westfalian culture. They believe in genealogy and one’s bloodline being of the utmost important, and they worship in a Westfalian style, mostly worshipping The Heiress.

Order of Saint Vaesus

The Order of Saint Vaesus is most known for hunting down spirits, magical beings, and rogue mages. They are known for how they wear their swords, discarding the usual Westfalian sling and instead wearing two swords in two separate scabbards on one hip. One usually much shorter (and older) than the other. It is believed, correctly, that the more ancient a weapon, the more harmful it is to spirits from the Unseen.

Binding Bowls

One of the traditions brought over from Westfal, and which can be found around their seats of power if one knows where to look. It is a bowl which is perfectly round, and on the inside of it is an incantation to trap a demon of a specific domain. If a creature of the Unseen comes across it and they are of the appropriate domain, they will feel compelled to stare into the spiraling words of the bowl, unable to move away.

Biter

A sword of unusual design, with a stiff and inflexible gauntlet built into the guard restricting how it may be held. When one slips their hand into the gauntlet, a demon trapped inside the sword bites down and begins to corrupt the body of the wielder. The demon will not release until the wielder is dead. It is by tradition given to the greatest swordsman of House von Sabot to keep it safe. And to unsheathe in times of greatest danger, for the demon will eventually kill the wielder, but will also imbue them with tremendous power before their death.

The Churches of the Pentarchy

The Church of Serene

Memoria

Memoria, or the Order of Memories, is the smallest part of the Church of Selene. The order is made up of specialized priests called Memories, and their purpose is to provide funerary services for anyone, free of charge.

Provinces

The Four Duchies of Nostrum. By tradition, Nostrum is said to have five. But which of the five varies depending on who is asked: some would consider Suzer the fifth duchy, because it was founded by Nostrumites. Some from Eastla would consider Eastla the third, for the same reason. The northern kingdom of Blackport is also sometimes in the running, given it began as a penal colony from Nostrum.