Principality of Seagard

The **Principality of Seagard** is located between Kokaine and the Merfolk Empire ruins. The houses are built of whitewashed stone, with steeply-pitched roofs of dark grey slate.

The men that rule these lands view the now extinct Merfolk as gods, and trident shaped shrines are scattered around their capital city, Bleak Harbor.

The Seagardians are known as excellent silver and blacksmiths that compete with the Three Kingdoms to the far north. They trade with the Ludenians and Lengi for oils, walrus tusks and furs.

## History

The region that is now known as Seagard was once a part of the Merfolk Empire, but like the rest of that ancient nation was unexpectedly cursed. Its human inhabitants became insane ratmen and almost all migrated to Luden, while its merfolk inhabitants became monstrous squid-folk and retreated to the oceans. However, like in Leng, some ancient guardian beasts remained and discouraged migration into the area for centuries.

Meanwhile, in the newly formed nation of Elanxa, the new cult of the Emperor was aggressively cracking down on existing religions. One of those religions was the Cult of Rusalochka, a Mermaid Goddess popular with sailors, fishermen, and certain merfolk races. This cult had overtime begun to consider the remains of the Merfolk Empire to be a sacred space of their goddess due to the abundance of merfolk and trident iconography, even though the Merfolk Empire worshipped Uun.

They launched a large expedition (unauthorized by Elanxa) to the ruins of the Merfolk Empire and managed to carve out a small nation, which grew overtime despite problems with guardian beasts and raids from Elanxa. Eventually they somehow negotiated peace with both Elanxa, and the guardians of the ruins (via the Besshiru), and became a relatively stable nation known for its silver and its seafaring ability.

## Government

Seagard is ruled by a prince. This was likely inspired by the Princedom of Platinum, whose governance structure Seagard made some effort to copy. The townships are ruled by boyars, and the nation outside the capital is split between three regional governors. However, Seagard doesn’t have the numbers or the culture to replicate Platinum’s top-down management, so most communities are oligarchies of a sort, run by the captains of the largest ships, with the holy ones providing impartial moral and legal guidance when needed.

## Economy

The inhabitants of Seagard revere sailing as a big part of their culture, and have an unusually large number of ships for a nation with such a small population. Most of these ships are merchants, whalers, or large fishing ships, as the waters immediately around Seagard are tainted by the squid-folk and the by-products of Luden, making the use of small coastal fishing boats inadvisable.

Although not nearly as prestigious, some Seagardians also work in iron and silver mines, or in smithies that craft said material. Others work in farms or herding pastures in the many fields between empty cities. And ship building is also fairly important.

Seagardians are mostly self-sufficient. The goods they buy from Leng, Luden, and Avangar among others are mostly for resale in other lands. Their iron and silver crafted goods are considered top notch, but they don’t produce anywhere near the volumes that Zemyland collectively does. One of the few things it does purchase are ships, as demand always outweighs local production abilities.

## Foreign Relations

### Leng, Luden, Faarowt, Golden Wheat Fields, Platinum, and Silver

Seagardian ships are a common site in the harbours of these nations, though they mostly facilitate trade rather than bring anything back to Seagard. Seagardians are often the first to get involved when a new market for trade opens up between two nations.

### Avangar

Seagardians are a bit wary of Avangar due to their use of dangerous magic and their destruction of several of Seagard’s old trading partners, but still do business with them regardless, mostly buying opiates and coal for resale elsewhere.

### Drunigzar

To a certain extent they are one of Seagard’s main competitors in the shipping business, but Drunigzar ships mostly stay to the south.

### Elanxa

Although a historic enemy, Elanxa and Seagard are pretty neutral these days, and Seagardian ships do a reasonable amount of business here.

### Kunt and Neraga

Seagardians don’t care much for pirates, but can generally look after themselves.

### Anchovia

Seagardians don’t think much of the people of Anchovia, often mocking them for their fear of the ruins of the Merfolk Empire, and their willingness to fish in the polluted waters around Seagard.

### Kokaine

Seagardians keep out of Kokaine. Just like everyone else they know it is cursed.

### Grobianismus and the Circle of Scatology Wizards

This land is also cursed. Seagardians keep out of it.

## Geography

Seagard has a hot, dry climate, but it gets cooler quickly inland due to proximity to the Frostlands of Khelek. Strange weather patterns in the area though mean the coastal parts of Seagard often get hit with fog or heavy rain, and sometimes with sleet and snow.

The lands are dotted with ruined cities and towns that haven’t been re-inhabited yet. Seagard only has a fraction of the population the core parts of the Merfolk Empire once had. Although these cities were built by the Ancient Leng, the architecture is more reflective of the Empire as a whole, and smaller step roofed buildings are far more common than the maze-like structures built on Leng Island.

## Demographics

### Humans

Most of the population is human, specifically of Northerner origin, though there is some nomad ancestry as well. Seagardians can usually be distinguished from their northern neighbors by their tendency to dress light weight clothes with distinct patterning on it, an adaptation to having moved to an area warmer than their homeland.

### Besshiru

Though not nearly as common as in Leng, there are a few Besshiru kicking around in Seagard, where they are rarely seen, but usually credited with keeping the guardian monsters pacified.

### Monsters

Like Leng, there are a few guardian monsters kicking around in Seagard, but not nearly as many. There are also a few squid-folk, who usually just get treated as another monster, as almost no one remembers their ties to the merfolk of the fallen empire.

## Religion

The Cult of Rusalochka is the dominant religion, and the reason for Seagard’s creation. It is a fairly loosely organized religion, where priests known as holy ones help enforce certain fundamental codes, but otherwise keep out of the way as Seagardian culture regards risk-taking as more important than conformity. The holy ones have some basic magic related to healing, control of water, and predicting the weather.

## Military

Seagard doesn’t bother much with a land army, as none of its neighbors have the ability to organize a competent army, and no one wants to mess around with the haunted interior ruins anyways. The coastal communities do get hit with the odd raid though, and are well defended by ancient walls, and more modern siege engines.

Naval combat is where Seagard really excels. Their sailors are rated the best on the east coast, individual Seagardians train relentlessly in boarding and counter-boarding tactics, and they aren’t afraid to adopt new tactics to fend off pirates, such as cannons, fire bombs, tamed monsters, or whatever else they can buy or copy off other nations. The Holy Ones are excellent supporting casters, and some of the strongest are also powerful enough to rock a ship and spoil its aim, or temporarily command one of the fearsome sea monsters of the depths.