Celdenburg

> "*I count myself fortunate for having experienced one of the yearly demonstrations of the Celdenburgers. To witness over four hundred thousand men marching in step, the arcane demonstrations of the Githyanki, and the divine power of the Githzerai, it chilled me to see such a small nation wields such power in scale. Long after the rest of the world has turned to dust, Celdenburg will hold. For it is not a nation with an army, but an army with a nation.*"
> ― Extract from "Sails and Shores", Famed Travelogue of Joan the Kor-Naman
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## Location Info

### Demonym

Celdenburgers

Celdenburg is a medium oligarchic pseudo-nation originally comprised of two separate city states located in the Crownlands. Primarily settled by humans, Celdenburg is also the homeland of the Gith, relying on secret rituals to create the humanoid guardians of this nation. Celdenburg is located upon two large and stable gates leading to the Plane of Shadows and the Faewild, famously drawing power from the matrices and the planes itself, angering the inhabitants there.

## History of Celdenburg

### Tale of Two Cities

The nation of Celdenburg was originally derived from two separate city states, Zerlin and Yankimar, created by two archmagi the brothers Gith. The two Gith brothers each created a stable gate to leak power into the material plane for them to siphon into their magic. One gate placed before the walls of Yankimar drew from the Vale of Shadows, while the gate placed before Zerlin draws from the Faewild. The brothers soon passed in a confrontation between each other, leaving behind a legacy of the gates, and their two cities.

This leads to a minor leak of uncontrolled magic within the nation, Celdenburgers' skins are a pale unhealthy yellow, and their eyes tend to have non-standard pupils. Additionally the portals present a constant ever present threat to Celdenburg. Roving bands of Fae pass to prey upon Celdenburgers as punishment for the theft of magic and the creation of the gate, while forces of undeath have an unshakable grip on the land from the Vale of Shadows. Magic is rife in these lands however, and many practicing druids, witches, clerics, and wizards make their home in Celdenburg.

## Celdenburg Culture

### Government

Celdenburg is an oligarchic pseudo-state. By writ, the two city-states of Zerlin and Yankimar are separate, though a council of Gith are elected to oversee the unified cooperation of the two cities. The capitol of Celdenburg changes between the two depending on which city currently controls the majority of the representatives on the council. Bureaucratic positions in administration are entirely limited to long-serving Gith that have garnered enough influence or personal power to claim their position, eventually working their way into Celdenburg's council. Humans can serve in the military, though officer positions are rare, and quickly rising through those ranks is a feat that cannot often be attributed to humans.

Each year the nation holds a draft to conscript members of it's human population to undergo the transmuting ritual to create a Gith. The Gith are made to serve as watchmen and defenders, as well as leaders of their nation. They represent the first and last line of defense against the other-planar dangers that threaten their land. Many Celdenburgers flee their country in hopes to avoid this draft, while some go through with the ritual, becoming a Gith before eventually escaping the constant pressure of responsibility forced upon them. Fewer however embrace the opportunity to become something more, and use it to sake their ambitions to climb the social ladder.

### Military

Largely militaristic, few outsiders travel within Celdenburg's borders, though its soldiery can be seen far and wide throughout Celadir, rented out to other nations and cities to serve as auxiliary soldiers and garrisons. Celdenburg has no middle class. The social rank that would commonly be held by merchants and artisans is filled with these foreign serving soldiers. These merchant auxiliaries, or Mercenaries, form the economic backbone of Celdenburg, serving the state as a whole, their rent paying into the often stretched war coffers of the country.

The standing army of Celdenburg are the Black Fists, Humans and Gith clad in dark black, they patrol the fortified highways of Celdenburg as well as range across country to the wide stretches of Celadir to hunt down fae and undead that have escaped the borders of their country. Celdenburg places a heavy emphasis on protecting both their own land, and the world Celadir as a whole against the destructive forces of the two planes.

Each year the nation holds a massive war-game, where each region mobilizes their own regiment to spar and battle each other in a test of both newly developed military tactics and equipment, as well as to build national pride in both themselves, and their region. Celdenburg boasts a standing military within their country of four hundred thousand strong, with another six hundred thousand of the merchant auxiliaries serving abroad.

### The Country That Was a Fortress

Celdenburg has been pressed to the defensive since their settlement, and this has shaped their doctrine domestically. Fortified highways connect every settlement within their borders, patrolled day and night, and lit brightly with hanging lanterns. Each village and town is fortified to a degree that would more commonly be ascribed to a military border fort, while the two capitols of the country are multi-ringed bulwarks against the creatures that threaten their land. Ever citizen is born into a land that threatens their very lives, and as such learn quickly to defend themselves.