Rivalon

Rivalon's capital is the city of Tridania.

****Rivalon**** (The Riverlands): A bountiful and fractured land, the various Kingdoms of Rivalon have feuded for untold centuries, from their time as disparate tribes to the now fractured despot duchies banded under a singular Rivalon banner. Even now, the 12 duchies are ruled by the descendants of the divine themselves, frequently engaging in skirmishes and great feuding wars every other generation. The most common species in Rivalon by far are humans, spreading quickly in the fertile lands. Halflings, another populous race in Rivalon, tend to keep to themselves, paying taxes to whoever claims rulership over them and staying out of affairs beyond the borders of their shires. The most unusual race in Rivalon are Aasimar, descendants of the divine. Though uncommon in the general populace, Aasimar dominate the nobility, and have managed through equal parts war and politics to become rulers of all 12 of the duchies. Among the general populace, some Aasimar blood still flows, though it has been diluted and lost over many generations. Most Aasimar trace their lines back to the White Comet, which passed through the heavens hundreds of years ago, and is said to have blessed the people of Rivalon with divine blood to finally unite them. However, as popular as this explanation is, it is considered dubious by most scholars. The true origin of the Aasimar is mostly unknown, other than that they did indeed emerge shortly after the sighting of the White Comet, during which positive energy bathed the continent for 12 days and 12 nights.

# The Kingdom of Rivalon and The Rest of the World

## Rivalonian Demographics

### Geographic Size

Rivalon covers about 486,000 km² of land. (For reference, modern day France is 643,801 km², and modern day Germany is 357,386 km². California is 423,970 km².)

### Population

#### Total population: ~21 Million

The City of Tridania possesses ~70,000 people.

*This population does not include lands that are effectively part of Rivalon in name only.*

#### Slave population: ~2 Million

The enslaved are scattered throughout the realm, either in the form of indentured servitude or as someone who has lost their right to live as a free individual.

### Education

Literacy rate in Rivalon is low, with most of the populace capable of reading and writing only simple words. Books are considered luxuries and prized possessions; they are only found in the hands of nobles and the clergy, in private sanctums and private libraries - none of which is open to the public.

### Magic

While it is generally believed that magic is a natural trait people are born with, the process of learning to control magic comes differently to most; while some have found it easy to acquire, others have had to spend their entire lives studying. They either possess a dormant aptitude, or they don’t, and no amount of work can awaken what isn’t there.

Magic occurs roughly in 1 person per every 250. Of these, around half will never discover their aptitude. Due to magic’s rarity, its effect on day-to-day life has been fairly minimal. By this metric, there are roughly 1 or 2 people capable of 4th level spells in Rivalon, assuming these high level casters are focusing almost all their effort into the magical arts.

The casting of stronger spells, or even spells by non-magical individuals, is possible through incantations. However, it bears a great deal of risk and is incredibly difficult. It is mainly the domain of vile cults, however on rare occasions the Rivalonian Faith has made use of incantations to summon powerful spells used as regenerate.

Unbeknownst to the people of the world, magic’s largest impact is hampering technological innovation. Tridiania’s progression scientifically is quite slow and stagnant compared to the real world at a similar time. Low level magic is just common enough to help with many problems and remove the necessity for innovation to resolve them instead. Also the arcane arts are a large area of study for even non-magically adept scholars, pulling away drastically from the amount of scholars exploring physics, mathematics etc.This has resulted in Rivalon’s tech being quite stagnant over the past few hundred years, and a bit lopsided in terms of development, especially as they learn some more advanced techniques from their Dwarven allies.

## The Three Pillars of Rivalonian Government

### The Senate and Nobility

**Head:** Twin Consuls

**Area:** Old Tridania

**Responsibilities:** Defence, Diplomacy, Writing of Legislature, Administration of Lands, Kingdom Finance

**Armed Forces:** Personal ties to the Legions and hired mercenaries

**Synopsis:** *The power of the senate and its nobility class has reached what seems to be the limit of their cooperation, great is their power but unable to unify properly the ceiling has been reached. They know the power of the faith and less they lose the support of the people have exercised great caution to be allies with that of the holy see.*

### The Court

**Head:** Tridania Council

**Area:** Trade Quarter

**Responsibilities:** Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice System, Domestic and Foreign trade, Passing of Legislature, Civil Engineering

**Armed Forces:** City Watch

**Synopsis:** *The court has been losing its legal holdings, influence and acclaim to both the senate and the faith. Legislature drawn up has weakened their power further and more individuals are turning to the divine and the senate for judgement than the court themselves. Before long there is no doubt that this organization will be absorbed and made a puppet of.*

### The Faith

**Head:** Arch-Priest

**Area:** Temple Quarter

**Responsibilities:** Education, Health care, Charity, Religion, Suppression of Heresy, Monster Slaying

**Armed Forces:** Paladins of the Holy Order

**Synopsis:** *The Rivalonian faith is one of pluralism, multiple deities exist as well as many pantheons. The holy men of the church recognise this fact as well as the unifying power it holds. Churches are less about one particular god but for the entire pantheon, they are places of worship and even the city watch must exercise caution treading unto holy grounds.*

### The Underworld

**Head:** Numerous Crime Bosses

**Area:** People’s Quarter

**Responsibilities:** Smuggling, Trafficking, Prostitution, Drug trade, Extortion, etc

**Armed Forces:** Various gangs

**Synopsis:** *The criminal underworld of Tridania is in a state of incredible power and overconfidence, in many districts of the People’s Quarter, and even the Trade Quarter, they roam free openly flaunting their criminal affiliation. The leaders, and members, of these gangs believe they are untouchable as long as they work the wheels of the system right and don’t rub too many people the wrong way. And they’re correct.*

## Firearms in Tridania

*(Tridania possesses Commonplace Guns, while most of Tridania functions on Emerging Guns. Advanced firearms are not available.)*

Trade with the Dwarven clans has brought a great many wonders to Tridania, one of these is firearms, generally all firearms are referred to as muskets despite what they actually are.

Firearms mainly rest in the hands of the Rivalonian nobility for military use, generally the weapons remain in the noble’s possession and will be given to their permanent retinue rather than levies as the weapons are valuable and require much training to use effectively. Civilians do not generally possess any firearms due to their cost, but it is not illegal or unheard of.

The Rivalonian faith is fairly neutral on the use of firearms but has advocated for restrictions to be placed on their ownership.

The Tridania City Watch has been slowly acquiring, mostly from arrests, a decent collection of firearms and has created a group of watchmen drilled in their use, although they are not yet used on standard patrols they are starting to replace the Watch’s use of crossbows and bows.

## Organizations in Rivalon

### Tridania City Watch

The Tridania City Watch has been defending the city in service of the senate and court for hundreds of years.

Its liveries, worn by all of the Watchmen, are all some shade of blue, though the exact shade varies. The Watchmen also wear a red badge on their chest to show their loyalty to the court, and a colored sash that distinguishes their rank as follows:

 Sergeant
 Lieutenant
 Captain
 Commander

Although the sash is traditionally meant to be draped over one shoulder across the chest, Watchmen can wear it wherever they’d like, and will receive little reprimand from their superiors unless the sash becomes difficult to see. Common styles are as a headband, around the waist under their belt, or as an armband.

Members of the City Watch are generally fairly well-trained and at many times the Watch’s ranks have been overflowing with skilled fighters. Recently the Watch’s numbers have dwindled and their recruitment standards loosened in an attempt to gain more recruits. However the standards for entering the Watch proper remain the same.

Currently, the City Watch’s headquarters are located within the Council Building in the Trade District, after their original headquarters burned down in 1324.

### The Salliston League

The Salliston League is a trade coalition of merchants intended to rival the harbors of Carth. Much of the trade is highly contested with other continents and the Salliston League controls a near monopoly of imported and exported goods of Rivalon. Closely working with the City Watch theft of their cargo is near unheard of and the waters are secured by fast moving small warships manned by the City Watch.

### Mages of Solomon

Mages and Scholars

The mages of Solomon are perhaps the largest organization of mages and sorcerers in Rivalon. Their numbers consist of mainly aspiring mages as well as some established ones, they are the holder of texts in Tridania and their library holds the sum of arcane knowledge. While not as impressive as other kingdoms and magical organizations they guard their library with jealousy. Admission to the mages are done through references and sponsorship, thus many of the mages hail from the Aassimar nobility themselves.

Usage of their library while possible is often rare, needing the express permission of one of their order and even then under strict guarding. Books are precious and some irreplaceable, the public is not to be allowed easy access to such materials as some can prove dangerous in the wrong hands.

### Azure Daggers

High profile organisation of assassins. Not much is known about them except that their members composed of roughly 50 individuals, and even this is a hotly debated topic among the people. Their existance isnt known well to the common people but anyone who had a brief dealing in the more seedy world of the underground would have no doubt heard of them.

### The Grizzled Slicers

One of the largest gangs in Tridania, with a large amount of influence spreading across the Rivalonian countryside. Formed originally from a large group of soldiers and mercenaries after their war ended, their jobs were lost and the next ones never came. They still mainly consist of ex-soldiers, mercenaries and even members of the City Watch.

Despite being one of the most dangerous and ruthless gangs, they pride themselves on having honour in their conduct. They’ll stab you in the front, with enough warning to let it sink in.

### Coolmountain Gang

Dwarven Criminals exiled from their homes often find themselves in Rivalonian settlements, doing their best to hide their wrong doings from the local Dwarf population so they may return to normal life. In Tridania however they never had such luck, either due to the prevalence of it’s criminal underworld or the good flow of information from home to the Dwarves in Tridania Dwarven criminals that ended up here found themselves in the criminal life again.

And eventually this led to an all dwarf gang forming, most of them exiled criminals from the Dwarven Kingdoms. Considering that exile is the Dwarves' most severe punishment, it can be imagined that these people have done terrible things.

### Witch Hunters

The Rivalonian Faith’s Holy order handles most extreme beastial and magical threats, while small ones are simply solved by throwing enough soldiers at it. However it did not escape the mind of the Rivalonian nobility that a group specialised in the elimination of monstrous threats that is more under their control may be necessary. The Witch Hunters are a fairly secretive organisation and their existence is not common knowledge.

Witch Hunters are officially meant to be under the jurisdiction of the Tridanian senate with it overseeing their operations and keeping them in check, while the funding and support comes from the Rivalonian Senate and Nobility.

In practice, the Senate and Nobility funnel money into a black void. The Witch Hunters report to no external organisation. They kill monsters, stop cults and remove enemies of the realm of their own accord and wield the authority of the monarchs themselves.

## Rivalonian Law

Crimes in Tridania are seen as an attack on the community itself. The Tridanian Court handles the majority of the process of enforcing and prosecuting criminals, however The Faith and Senate do have major parts. There are 3 parts to prosecution in Tridania.

### Trial

First the accused is placed on trial, handled by the court. This is the most important section and is where a public jury will decide the fate of the criminal based on provided evidence. The accused defends themselves or elects an advocate to defend them, the prosecution is handled by the Court.

In the trial of prominent citizens the usage of Zone of Truth is extensive and serves as a judicial pillar in establishing truths. Lesser citizens does not utilize such method and if they are taken to trial, guilt is often assumed. The conviction rate on trials are over 90% for lesser citizens.

### Redemption

If the accused is found guilty it is the purpose of the Faith to determine if they are capable of redemption. Redemption of a criminal comes in the form of tasking them with a redeeming mission that is almost certain to cause their death. If the criminal somehow manages to survive they are released.

### Punishment

Punishments are determined by the Tribune of the Plebs officially, practically they only make an actual decision on large trials involving prominent people. The punishments chosen by attending watchmen of rank is often the case of the less prominent individuals. The accused would be brought to a public square where the alegations against their crimes would be brought forth. Words of the watchmen and in good standing citizens are suffice as evidence and barring any further objections the criminal will then be punished.

A proper trial with lawyers and back and forth debate usually only occur when a prominent citizen, or those who could appeal high enough in the court system.

All criminals will be branded with a mark based on their crime. Minor criminals are branded on the arm, while major criminals possess large brandings across their arms and face.

(Brandings are not removed by normal magical healing due to a special alchemic brew rubbed onto the skin before the brand is pressed. A restoration spell would be needed to remove the branding,)

* Treason is punishable by public hanging.
* Arson is punishable by being burned at the stake.
* Murder is punished by a fine payed to the family of the victim. Repeated offence punished by removal of body parts.
* Magical Assault *(use of any magical effect on a non-consenting person)* punishable by the removal of the hands and tongue.
* Petty theft punishable by the stockades for several days.
* Thievery punishable by removal of the hands.
* Poaching is punishable by castration, blinding and or hanging.
* Assault of  royal officials is punishable by execution.
* Disturbing the Peace *(this can include unwarranted public displays of magic)* or being drunk and disorderly in public if severe enough is punished by the stockades.
* A fine can also instead be paid. Numbering from 100s of gold to 1000s of gold, this however, usually lays outside the ability of all but the patrician families to pay. Whether a fine is acceptable as a form of punishment lay in the hands of the presiding watchman, judge or senator given authority to dictate what is suitable.

## Races in Tridania

With the vast majority of Tridania's populace consisting of humans, other races are often viewed with varying degrees of scrutiny. Typical reactions range from mere interest, such as in the case of dwarves and halflings, to downright suspicion and hostility, in the case of tieflings. Whatever the case, all nonhuman races within Tridania are seen as outsiders. Aassimars being a unique case as they populate the higher castes and are thus treated with favors and in some ways, divine awe and respect.

### Dwarves

Dwarves are the most common minor race in Tridania, and generally well treated due to their alliance with Tridania. Dwarven merchants are not an uncommon occurrence and they bring many foreign riches to Tridania’s markets. All Dwarves living within the walls of Tridania are migrants and commonly descendants of merchants who settled down in Human lands. Dwarves have no ancestral history in the Human lands.

Dwarven Scholars visiting Rivalon to research Humans are also an occasional sight, and some have settled in the city due to their fascination with the race.

Dwarves in Tridania generally maintain Dwarvish culture, although some that are particularly fascinated with Humans attempt to adopt Rivalonian tradition as much as possible, and those that have lived in Tridania for long periods of time have eventually been assimilated.

Dwarven culture is one very set in tradition and ritual. Although the specifics vary from Dwarven clan to clan, and even family to family it’s seen as disrespectful to your ancestors to not adhere to these rituals and traditions. This is especially true when meeting other Dwarves as you do not just offend your ancestors, but you offend the Dwarf you are speaking to.

Interestingly, due to this degree of interest, patience and respect for each other's rituals the Dwarves have been found to be the most accepting of entirely different cultures' quirks.

### Orcs

Orcs are incredibly uncommon within the city of Tridania itself, although small Orc tribes hiding in the wilderness used to be a common occurrence. Recently most of the ones within the Rivalon province have been routed out by the Holy Order. However there are a few known tribes within The Basit region that have managed to establish pacts of non-aggression and non-interference with local lords.

All tribes within The Basit region and the Rivalon province migrated from the forests long ago and have only a very distant relationship. Actual Orc migrants from The forest are unheard of, although it is rumoured that a few were brought back as prisoners by one of the Lords of Basit and released into a local tribe.

Orcs maintain their ancestral tribal cultures and have little interest in assimilating or integrating with Humans.

Orc culture varies heavily by tribe, but the theme is the same. It is a very shamanistic culture focused on being one with the soul of nature, and also about brotherhood and bond between members of the tribe.

### Elves

Ancient tomes and tales talk of The Great Wood covering the entire continent and all in sight being the domain of Elves. Modern scholars generally consider this to be false, and simply baseless Elven claims a long time ago. However, there certainly were other arcane woods in the region now called Rivalon at some point, which is likely the origin of Elves living in modern day Tridania.

Their numbers are decent, but still the lowest of all the major non-human races except Orcs.

Elves still hold onto what scraps of their ancestral culture can be remembered, some accept assimilation as inevitable, but these individuals are ostracized from Elf communities. Within Human lands Elf culture essentially boils down to “Not being Human” and little more than that.

### Goblins

Goblins are generally considered to be underdeveloped Orcs, despite this they have flourished in city life. They infest every sewer, back alley and dark corner of Tridania to some degree, however have managed to be no more than a minor pest at worst and fairly helpful at best to the city. Some more radical Humans call for their removal, but in general they are tolerated and treated with no particular bias.

Goblins outside of Rivalonian cities and towns have suffered much the same fate as their Orc cousins, and those remaining in the wilds are almost certainly involved in banditry.

Goblin culture isn’t very complex and mainly rooted in their basic mannerisms and instincts. It could be described as symbiotic or parasitic of whatever society they dwell in although either way it allows them to survive and thrive wherever they are.

### Gnomes

Gnomes to the knowledge of most scholars, although there is much speculation, have no ancestral home. Their people has managed to spread itself across the entire Earth to some degree, Gnomes are incredibly populous in the Rivalon region with no particular cluster. They’re the most common non-Human major race outside of the city itself and have generally adopted Rivalonian culture, as such they are treated as if they were Human.

### Halflings

Halflings are in a similar situation to Gnomes within Rivalonian lands, although nowhere near as spread across the Earth as Gnomes. Adopting Rivalonian culture and being often mistaken for Human children has lended well to them being treated as if they were Human.

### Tieflings

Tieflings are seen as a sign of bad luck, of bad omen, of sin and naturally untrustworthy. Most of these biases are a result of prejudice from the Aasimar ruling class, but a tiefling's natural propensity for deceit, coupled with their silver tongues and roguish ways, also contribute to the established viewpoint. While not outright persecuted, one would be hard-pressed to find a citizen that doesn't harbor some caution or reservation when dealing with one of the infernal heritage. Rare in number, tieflings are targets of Holy Inquisitions when there is a problem. Once one comes under the scrutiny of the Holy See, they rarely ever make a public appearance, or any appearance at all, ever again.

### Crossbreeds

Main crossbreeds are Human Half-Elves and Half-Orcs. These couplings are generally healthy and possess traits from both their parents, making them an interesting midpoint. However they are infertile and generally struggle to fit into any culture.

A Half-Orc is treated as a Human by Orcs, and an Orc by Humans. Half-Elves receive similar discrimination on both sides.

Rarer crossbreeds generally fall under curiosities and are more likely to be accepted.

### Other minor races

Other minor races are generally treated as curiosities, some interesting and are generally not subject to discrimination beyond patronization unless they hold likings or similarity to things Humans are hostile towards. Or if they come in numbers and begin to settle.