Nike

**Nike** is less of a kingdom and more of a closely-tied group of clans. Its existence as a whole entity is almost entirely as a unified reaction to frequent invasion and warfare from the Kingdoms of Alkaliye and Calcinaia. With large mountain ranges to the South and East, and a desert to cross anywhere beyond them, Nike's biggest interaction outsides of its clans' borders is with Alkaliye. And much of that, for the past couple hundred years, has been border skirmishes and chronic warfare.

Nike's Earthen analogue is the old Nordic and Gothic kingdoms.

## Geography

Nike's steppes provide little vegetation, but the sprawling territory is home to wyverns and mineral deposits. Still, the steppes provide enough grass and open pastures for shepherding and some hardier crops likes potatoes and other root vegetables. Two rivers cross through Nike, the Euxine and Qazvin rivers. These provide some fertile land and fishing, and have recently become useful trade routes into Palladion.

## Government and Politics

Nike is a mosaic of small clans and nations with often frequent competition for territory and farmland. Each clan has a chieftan, who generally passes their title down to a descendent or close friend of the family. Each clan tends to have its own set of laws and creeds, and the responsibilities of a chieftan may vary from clan to clan.

The size of a clan is also variable. The largest clan is the white-scaled Sarai Batu, whose main city is unofficially considered the 'capital' of Nike. They are so large in comparison of the other clans that they often act as mediators to other clans. However, there is a balance of power - the Sarai Batu are not large enough to consolidate total control over Nike.

## Economy

Nike has limited trade with Alkaliye. Instead, Nike's merchants generally trade with Palladion at the coastal cities around the Euxine and Qazvin sea. Their iron-rich and excellent forged steel is sought after for Palladion's military, and Nike frequently trades for luxury goods like silk, spice, and gold.

Another, less-spoken economy of Nike's is in mercenary forces. Wyvern-riding troops of Dragonborn are handsomely paid to turn the tides of a battle, as the heavily-armoured and fearsome warriors often dominate warfare even in small numbers.

## Demographics

Nike is largely populated by Dragonborn, with small communities of Goliaths and Dwarves in the far East near the border to Cuivacossa. Nike's smaller clans are very homogenous and sometimes xenophobic, limiting contact with non-Dragonborn races (or even Dragonborn of different scale lustre) to trade or combat.

Much of Nike's distrust of other races is propagated through their long warfare with Alkaliye. Nike and the Kingdom of Alkaliye have been at war on and off for two hundred years, the more fertile lands East of Sarai Batu being a heated point of contention.

Though these days, the two nations will often just battle for the sake of gaining political favour and stirring up the nationalism of their own people.

## Culture

### **Battle Weary**

Peace is sometimes a foreign concept in Nike, these days. Centuries of on-and-off warfare between Alkaliye and squabbles amongst the smaller clans have left Nike in a difficult situation. Their children know of war more than peace. Adults are more soldiers than they are tradesmen or farmers, and to be a mercenary is the most lucrative and glamorous profession, particularly when places like Palladion and Calcinaia will pay in bags of silver for their services.

Many elders and chieftains, who themselves have not lived to see peace, are uncertain if their own nation can survive without warfare. Some wonder if, just perhaps, they conquer Alkaliye or even South down to the Euxine Sea they may be able to broker peace out of force, and change into a prosperous nation.

### **Dream of a Nation**

If there is one attitude that unifies the majority of Nike, it is the search for a leader who can unify Nike's clans and forge from them an empire to rival Palladion or Alkaliye. Many legends and tales of heroes in Nike are built from this hope. The heroes are always charismatic, always more willful than their enemies, and will gather Dragonborn of various colours and creed to their cause.

Many of these stories are simply myth, passed down for generations until they are thought to be a sign of a glorious past.

### **Religion**

Dragonborn are more often irreligious or 'pagan' than other races. While some will still recognize Mithras as a creator god, they do not share the same reverence for such an invisible and humanoid-centric figure. Instead, they often share thanks and blessings in the name of whatever Dragon is patron to their clan. Sarai Batu (or just 'Batu') is a commonly revered dragon even outside of his namesake's clan.

Sometimes there is fanaticism in Nike. For example, the Sunclaws is a clan formed purely out of worship to the Brass Dragon Abraxus and reveres him to an extreme degree. The Sunclaws will invade any land where Abraxus is sighted, as they will claim the land as sacred to their sect.

### **Magic**

Along the trade routes through the Euxine and Qazvin's rivers has come alchemy. Though many Dragonborn traditionally practice a sort of shamanistic approach to magic, there is a quickly growing contingent of alchemic practitioners among the larger clans especially. There is a recently constructed University in Sarai Batu, though it may be another generation or two before it produces leading scholars.