Kingdom of Silver

## History

Much like the Kingdom of Gold and other similar nations, the Kingdom of Silver was founded by colonists from the now dissolved nation of Greater Elanxa. It took on the “Kingdom of Silver” moniker even before it gained independence, as Lotysinhar was already known as the “Kingdom of Gold” (from an old poem) by this point. It is often referred to simply as “Silver”, just as the other Zemylander nations are known as “Gold”, “Copper”, “Platinum”, “Crimson”, and “Rust” respectively.

True to its name, vast deposits of silver exist in the territory, though it possesses gold and metals as well, and Silver quickly established itself as a wealthy nation.

Violence between the Zemylander humans and the snow elves was particularly bad here, as the humans were invading one of the core parts of the snow elf realm. However, following a long chain of wars and conquests, the Kingdom of Silver eventually reached its present boundaries, and has more or less been at peace with the snow elves, though small wars and skirmishes are common.

Since its establishment, Silver also has gone to war with other nations on behalf of its fellow Zemylander allies, including Arangea, Mossovoy, and certain Hyperborean tribes. It has also established itself as the main merchant power of the Zemylanders, with ships going as far west as Zapalovah, and as far south as Drunigzar on a regular basis, though Platinum controls the Strait and taxes east/west trade heavily, giving only a moderate break to their cousins in the Kingdom of Silver.

## Government

The Kingdom of Silver is a hereditary monarchy, with regional governors and boyars reporting to the monarch. This system is similar to the Kingdom of Gold’s, but is much more top down, backed by a large army that also runs a spy network, maintains an extensive roster of magic users on its payroll, and runs much of the kingdom’s bureaucracy.

The current queen is Morozova Sobol, a distant relative to the queens of Gold and Copper. She is authoritarian, with a keen interest in magic and mysticism.

## Economy

The Kingdom of Silver is home to massive deposits of silver, but also some of gold, gems, iron, and other metals. It is also a significant source of timber, amber, high quality furs, whale oil, carved tusks, and spider silk.

Farmland is of marginal quality, and the winters are long, so many of the common folk work in mining and forestry during the winter months when farming and fishing is less viable.

Silver has an unusually large middle class due to its disproportionately large army, merchant class, and crafting class.

Silver is also the main shipping nation of Zemyland, and thanks to its ties to Platinum, dominates much of the shipping that happens through the Platinum Strait.

## Foreign Relations

Kingdoms of Gold, Copper, Crimson, Platinum, and Rust – As fellow Zemylanders, Silver is sworn to protect these nations against major threats. Other Zemylanders tend to see Silver as greedy, fickle, paranoid, and biased against non-humans, but despite this, most trade from Gold to the outside world runs through them, and Platinum has even more extensive ties. Silver meanwhile sees Gold as arrogant and lazy, Platinum as authoritarian and controlling, and the others as poor and backwater, yet like all Zemylander nations they stick together when threatened.

Aine Saevherne – Even more so than other Zemylander nations, Silver doesn’t get along well with the snow elves, and skirmishes between the two are frequent, though Aine Saevherne knows declaring a major war would bring the rest of the Zemylanders into a large war against them.

Avangar – Although distantly related, the Kingdom of Silver does not get along with Avangar due to their on and off wars with the Princedom of Platinum, and their conquest of several of the Kingdom of Silver’s most valuable trading partners. If a major war between Platinum and Avangar broke out, Silver would no doubt ally with Platinum. Despite this, Avangar is a moderately important trading partner.

Zapalovah, Elanxa, Orange Marquissates, Woodcutters, Leng, Luden, Drunigzar, and Seagard – Other major trading partners of Silver. Ties with Zapalovah are particularly close as they are distant cousins to the Zemylanders, and as a result Silver is a major contributor to the Laurentian Crusade.

Neraga and Kunt – Pirates from these regions are a major nuisances to Silver’s southbound trade ships.

## Geography

The Kingdom of Silver is relatively flat, but still very rocky, with thin soil or exposed rock in many areas. Much of it is covered in quick growing pine forest despite extensive forestry operations. Small farms are scattered about wherever the soil is thick enough to support them, with the main crops being hardy variants of wheat and potatoes, and major livestock being cattle, pigs, and reindeer.

## Demographics

### Humans

Zemylander humans make up most of the population. They are generally considered an attractive people, though perhaps not as much as those from the Kingdom of Gold with a touch of rusalka blood. Some humans in the Kingdom of Silver do have some fey blood though, or some snow elf ancestry.

### The Fey

They aren’t as numerous here as in other Zemylander nations, though you will find the odd hag or other solitary fey in the more remote regions. It is believed most of the darker fey were driven out ages ago by the snow elves, and some of the friendlier fey in this particular region allied with the snow elves against the Zemylander colonists and were driven out. However, others argue against this, pointing out most fey get along with Zemylanders in nations other than Silver. One type of fey that the humans of Silver do get along with though are the arctic merfolk, who often warn ships from the Kingdom of Silver of trouble in return for treats and trinkets.

### Trolls

Like much of Zemyland, trolls are an ever present danger, and several variants live in the region, though the higher population density and large army means only Platinum is more effective than Silver of keeping their populations to a minimal.

### Snow Elves

There are a few snow elves in Silver, though they must tread carefully, as the inhabitants of the Kingdom are distrustful of non-humans, and many are outright hostile to snow elves. However there are some ambassadors in the Royal Court and a few of the regional courts. Others are usually prisoners of war from raids, often working off long criminal sentences as Silver considers most captured near the border to be mere bandits, except when Aine Saevherne actually acknowledges the raiders as having state backing, which is rare.

## Religion

Like most Zemylanders, the Kingdom of Silver follow the Zemylander Pantheon. The War God Vursid, the Ocean God Legoluboy, and the Wealth God Zolovora are most popular here. Some merchants and spies also pay their respects to little known fey gods associated with trickery and/or murder.

## Military

The Kingdom of Silver has a large professional army backed by mages, spies, and a large military bureaucracy capable of mobilizing the many regional militias and conscripting labor.

Although man for man they aren’t as good as many of those they fight, they are trained to use numbers and teamwork to bring down more skilled combatants. And despite what their opponents say, they are better trained than most armies, and are incredibly hard to break.

They share many of these traits with the army of the Kingdom of Platinum, who they often fight alongside.