Drenadine

Drenadine redirects. here. For the city of the same name, see Drenadine (city).

## History

Founded 900 years ago, the city of Drenadine is located in the fertile Areson Hills, along the River Areson. It was backwater for much of its history, considered unimportant by its larger neighbors of Thrane and Marylene.

It underwent a rocky conversion to the Church of Torm in 251 YD, and while cults of the older faiths continue to the present day, especially among the halflings, the Church has maintained its dominance for the past 550+ years. It became part of the centralized Marylene Church of Torm in 287 YD.

Drenadine conquered Bascaradd in 320, after a seven-year campaign, under Nyra II, Queen of the Arsalynian dynasty. The ethnically similar Bascarads were treated as less than citizens, and there were revolts for many years until the conquest of the northern range and Lyarssil in 349. The wealth, slaves, and glory brought in by the conquest elevated the quality of life for both Bascaradd and Drenadine, and opened the Drenadines’ appetite for conquest.

Thentum was next, and was taken over a thirty year siege. Marylene was attacked twice during this time, though half-heartedly, as the authority of the Synod of the Church of Torm condemned these attacks. Both campaigns succumbed to a lack of internal support by powerful families.

After the conquest of Thentum, the monarchy was overthrown after the Famine of 396, in the Winter Rebellion. The Slaughter at Fierrise Hill ended the rebellion, where the various rebellion armies killed all nobles with any drop of royal blood, and the Council of Twenty was organized with representatives from each of the twenty largest cities in Drenadine and Bascaradd (Thentum and Lyarssil had no representatives). Many accused the cities of sending the most powerful nobles, betraying the peasantry’s cause, but the majority accepted the transfer of power after the bloody rebellion.

The remonarchization of Drenadine came slowly, over the next hundred years, by a family of nobles who emigrated from Marylene. They maintained strong ties with Marylene and the Church, granting them authority and protection. Gradually, they managed to shift the laws to grant authority and privilege to the First Family, then remove authority from the Council by diluting it to eighty members, packing it full of Councilors loyal to them. They then started a symbolic war against Marylene, then a real war against Ersilons in the East, where the more militant could be sent. They expanded the navy, conquering the Twin Isles.

Lesivar of Reines (pronounced Ren) managed to crown himself King of Drenadine, the first in almost one hundred fifty years, in 530, the anniversary of an important victory. The War of Doire came soon after as the Kingdom of Doire, united for the first time under the Mersielles, invaded the peninsula. They managed to capture the Twin Isles, Thrane, Ersilons and large swathes of Marylene before they were beaten back by a desperate full assault on the city of Doire. They exist now only as part of the Ghad Kingdoms. This is also the reason the Elves of the south coast are unwelcome in Drenadine.

The westward expansion of Drenadine has been slow ever since. Each king or queen sent armies during the summer months, and occasional ocean raids brought new coastal colonies under Drenadine rule. The Eastern Revolt involved Thraneish nobles who wanted Drenadine citizenship; the result was Drenadine citizenship for every colony who had been part of Drenadine for more than a hundred twenty three years (a political manoeuver to prevent the rival of an important politician from obtaining office).

Drenadine in its present incarnation was solidified under the last of the Vespian monarchs, Carlanix Vespian III, who solidified Drenadine control over the Rhyon-Thentum border in 752. After his death, his son was murdered right before the coronation, plunging the country into a thirty-year civil war. The war ended with the Penetar dynasty seizing control, granting their primary rival, the Melothyrce family, dynastic control of the Church, including one royally appointed position on the Synod.

The Penetar dynasty has seen incursions from the Orcmarches, pirates from the islands, the Phersas Empire to the East, and the rise of the Lissian empire. The current queen, Synaren, is looking for political alliance with Thentum to drive back their various enemies, but many suspect she has plans of empire in Thentum once the borders are safe. As things stand, there are more soldiers in Rhyon than Thentum’s governors would prefer. Thus, Drenadine fights mostly alone against its current enemies, with mixed success.

## Demographics and Culture

The kingdom was originally the home of humans, orcs, halflings, and gnomes, as well as some less common races. The expansion of the human kingdom of Drenadine pushed orcs and gnomes north to the Orcmarches, while the halflings, known as the Ryshi, remained wandering families of nomads, though they adapted to their wandering life within the kingdom by becoming traders, traveling merchants, and transient workers.

### Ryshi

The Ryshi are the only non-humans commonly found within the Empire. They are a happy, nomadic people, with rich culture and tradition, who live in wagon caravans throughout the southern coast. People are suspicious of them when they settle down, but they do have temporary settlements along the coast and in the mountains called Asthayino (singular Asthayi).

A Ryshi caravan is composed mostly of relatives by blood or marriage, and the heads of each family branch vote on one Mukhya, a caravan leader who makes decisions about the direction of the caravan. Sometimes a large family branch will split off from a caravan and choose their own Mukhya, though when they do, it is customary to give a large gift of pigs, who are cooked in celebration of the friendship of the two caravans.

The Ryshi worship nature spirits, which can grant many kinds of magic, from natural to arcane to divine. A Samajadār or Samajadās (M or F) is a family mage, and they have respect among the Ryshi. However, the most celebrated mages are Ryshi bards and storytellers, as they don’t keep many written records.

The Ryshi are know for colorful cloaks, and they decorate their wagons with old scraps of their clothes, partially for warmth, so that older family wagons appear almost fluffy with colorful scraps.