Skyshroud

## Kingdom of Skyshroud

The **Kingdom of Skyshroud** (Lunaran: *Teyrnas* *Vilyafaana*, Soltran: *Regnum Silvapinam*, Alovari common: *Reyno de Himinsnaga*) is a kingdom and imperial estate in northern Ovaicaea, which has at various times purported to be a multiethnic kingdom or a successor state of the Old Empire. The current Kingdom came into existence by the year 800, when the human warlord Cortez established himself as King after a war of conquest at the invitation of the Moon Elf tribes in a bid to stabilize a region fraught with civil war. Cortez' successors led the kingdom to war against the Orcs, and joined the New Empire as one of its largest, most powerful, and most fiercely independent member states.

Skyshroud is unique in its multicultural society predominated by humans and half-elves, and its rule by a human monarch, a military aristocracy, and an elven high council to advise and guide the Crown. Its warriors are renowned as some of the most ferocious, skilled, and hardened in the Empire, with such a high proportion of its adult population trained for war that it has sometimes been termed a *military state* rather than a tribal or feudal state.

## Name

The land now called Skyshroud has been, since time immemorial, called *Vilyafaana* in the Lunaran tongue. The name has roots in archaic proto-Elven *Vilyavanna*, meaning "path of the pointed forest" referring to the widespread pine barrens that cover its mountainous terrain. The sun elves that colonized Vilyafaana in the 2nd century translated this into their own language as *Silvapina*.

When the Alovari humans migrated into the region, they named it for the mountain range they marched along to reach the interior. The mountains are so called for the high peaks, as one who climbs them are shrouded only by the sky. However, an alternative theory is that it refers to the mist that shrouds the mountaintops *from* the sky, which hangs like a low fog over the valley. In their native tongue, this is rendered as *Himinsnaga*, translated into Western Common under the popular name Skyshroud.

## History

Vilyafaana is viewed by many elves as their mythological heartland. Elven mythology speaks of the gods creating five tribes of elves as protectors of the Feywild. But they became corrupted and so the gods cursed them with mortality, consigning them to wander and spread across the land. Only the Wood Elves repented and were allowed to live and die in proximity to the sacred wilderness.

Modern scholarship corroborates some of this, perhaps as a mythologization of history. Excavations by the Elven Origin Society have discovered evidence of ancient Elven habitation, mostly ancient burial mounds and abandoned villages, in parts of Vilyafaana. This may indicate that the elven race originated in the northern forests, but diversified soon after migrating south. Some returned to the north, becoming the tribe of Wood Elves. Some elves settled in the plains to the east and west, becoming the Moon Elves, and engaging in warfare with the gnomes during the Late Bronze Age. Some Moon Elves settled in the fertile coastal region and river valleys of the west, becoming the Sun Elves. For centuries, Vilyafaana was divided among plains-dwelling Moon Elves and forest-dwelling Wood Elves, who rarely interacted with each other.

Starting in the 2nd century IA, however, the region was gradually made subject to colonization by the Old Empire, with settlement parties led by Sun Elves who saw the land as their birthright. These colonies established fortresses in the mountains, and trading towns along the rivers, competing against the traditional rights and land use of the nomadic and pastoral Moon Elves, and contending against the highly defensive Wood Elves over timber and water resources. The Moon Elves attempted to adapt to new realities by forming their own settlements for trade, or frequently passing through Sun Elven market towns to sell livestock, wool, milk, cheese, game, and other items. Some, however, saw their pastures destroyed by Sun Elven expansion. The Wood Elves categorically reacted with violence to what they saw as incursion by the Sun Elves, and complacence or collaboration by their Moon Elf cousins, with whom they share a spoken language.

The tensions erupted into all-out war between Wood Elf and Sun Elf clans in imperial year 402, around the same time the Orcs emerged in the eastern frontier. The Moon Elves attempted to keep out of it, but many were caught in the middle; the war raged on for over 300 years, while the Old Empire collapsed and the Orcs tore Ovaicaea apart. The Sun Elf colonies in Vilyafaana referred to their country as a Domain, and saw it as the sole legitimate continuation of the Old Empire. In the year 790, the Moon Elves brokered a pact with the tattooed human tribes that had been settling in the southern river valleys, the Alovari. The Moon Elves invited the army of their tribal king, Cortez, to march into Vilyafaana and stabilize the region, knowing that they were powerful, skilled in battle, and well-led. Cortez led something more akin to a migration than an invasion, and settled his people in the upper Athua River valley. His army battled Wood Elven raiding parties and the Sun Elven armies, gradually securing a stronghold. After ten years, a peace treaty was signed by the Sun Elf cities, the Moon Elf lords, and King Cortez; they agreed to recognize Cortez' claim to all of Vilyafaana, with a council of elves to advise and guide him. The humans would be given lands in the south and made responsible for securing their borders against the Orcs. The wood elves refused to be part of the negotiations or to recognize Cortez' sovereignty, but agreed to a ceasefire. Cortez chose the Moon Elven town of Esgalduin as his royal capital, and began building it up into a splendored city, the jewel of the north. There has been a cold war for over two centuries, as soltran and tretieri elven hardliners have isolated themselves from the rest of the kingdom.

## Geography

Skyshroud is dominated by three main land formations: the northern Skyshroud mountain range, the forested Glimmerwood in the center and west, and the hills and river valleys in the East.

The easternmost parts of the Old Glimmerwood were vastly deforested by dwarves and men, and the western reaches are known as the Burntwood, which was destroyed by the Orcs during the war. The region is viewed as the ancient homeland of all elven races. Folklore describes the heart of the coniferous woodlands that cover much of Vilyafaana as the Feywild, a magical wilderness filled with fey spirits and other creatures that are dangerous to those who are not of fey ancestry. To those who are fey, or are deemed worthy, the Feywild is a land of safety and plenty. Many do not venture deep into the woods, though more skeptical historians see it as just a particularly dense and hostile wilderness, full of dangerous animals and violent forest tribes.

## Society and government

Skyshroudian society is dominated by a tension between a deliberate multiculturalism and stark ethnic tensions that linger from the pre-conquest era, as well as tensions of land ownership and use between the military aristocracy and traditional pastoralists that constitute much of the elven populace. The citizens of Skyshroud overall enjoy the benefits of a cultural melting pot, as the races of moon elf and human have blended their ancestral heritage and customs. To a lesser extent, the sun elves have also contributed to the social landscape, though the vast majority of sun elves maintain a xenophobic isolationism. Only a few of their citadels engage in trade with moon elf and human towns, and send their representatives to meet in the king's council.

### Government

Skyshroud is a hereditary monarchy built partly in the tribal traditions of the Alovari and Lunarans, and the legalistic traditions of the Soltra. The central institution is the King, supported by a Privy Council and the royal household. The Privy Council is divided into two separate chambers: the Elven Council, and the War Council, which meet together periodically or in times of crisis. Generally, the Elven Council handles civil matters, and the War Council handles military matters, though there is overlap in matters of the treasury. Skyshroud is often referred to as a *military state* due to the prominent role of the military aristocracy, and the kingdom's constant state of readiness for war. The King and their heir both sit on the Privy Council.

The Elven Council takes some influences from Sun Elven political tradition, inherited from the Old Empire and the Soltran cities of the West. The Council is composed of prominent elven citizens of the kingdom, who are given political authority over one or more departments of the central government. These are as follows:

* the Lord Chancellor, who oversees the judicial system, and presides over the Council when the King is not present.
* the Confessor in Residence, who advises the King on the administration of justice alongside the Chancellor.
* the Lord Chamberlain, who is keeper of the Royal Seal and manages the King's household, and is responsible for diplomacy.
* the Lord Pensionary, who oversees the royal treasury and budget.
* the Lord Seneschal, who oversees the sheriffs and provosts that administer the King's provinces.
* the Lord Almoner, who oversees poor-relief and welfare programs, mainly the royal grain dole.
* the six Lords Petitioner, who formally represent the soltran and lunaran elves who are "in treaty with" the Crown.

The War Council is also presided over by the King and their heir, and is composed of the chief military officials of the kingdom. By law it is composed of:

* the Lord Marshal, who chairs the military committee when the king is not present and formally leads the Royal Army.
* the Lord Admiral, who oversees the Royal Navy and the defense of port towns and coastal territory.
* the Lord Constable, who is second-in-command of the Army, formally the keeper of the King's stables and commander of the royal cavalry, and presides over courts-martial.
* the Master of Traditions, who ensures compliance with military customs, especially religious taboos.
* the Master of Innovations, who studies, develops, and implements military training and combat doctrine.
* the sixteen Generals, who each command a division of the Royal Army, with responsibility over a geographical area for defense and recruitment.
* the four Admirals, who each command a squadron of ships along the north and northwest, responsible for naval defense.

The local government of the Kingdom is devolved to regional administrators who serve in the name of the King. Skyshroud is administratively divided into provinces, first-level divisions under the joint authority of royally-appointed civil and military magistrates, under whom are usually about five or six *provosts* who administer at a smaller municipal or local level. These officials have appellate judicial power over their areas, but more importantly are tasked with the collection of royal taxes, and overseeing royal lands and resources such as mines and forests. The civil administration in a province is handled by a sheriff, and the military administration and defense is handled by a General or an Admiral, depending on if the province is coastal or interior. Unlike the feudal nations to the south, the generals do not hold feudal tenancy over the regions they administer with the sheriffs. While the military aristocracy is a landed nobility, royal policy has usually been to appoint a general to be in charge of the defense of a province other than the one in which their landholdings are, and to rotate command positions every few years to prevent a commander from becoming established in an area as a feudal lord. This has largely prevented dwarven-style feudalism from taking hold, as the Royal Government maintains strict control over the military and national defense.

### Military

The Skyshroudian Royal Army is of considerable interest to Imperial affairs, being among the largest and most well-trained armies in the Empire. The Alovari human tribe have had a strong martial tradition throughout their history. Since time immemorial, full citizenship or recognition as being a "member of the tribe" was only accorded to those who had completed a term of military service. The Sun Elves held a similar principle, distrusting anyone who hadn't served in the Army, as elven republicanism strongly idealized the a citizen-soldier. Even the moon elves believed that preparedness for war was important; they had adopted, or perhaps derived from some common cultural source, the gnomish cultural emphasis on oathbound youth war-bands as a training ground for noble warriors, and a model for a society based around animal husbandry and the need to either raid or fend off raiders as a means of survival and growth. All of these traditions have blended together under the modern Royal Army and Royal Navy.

The formal head of the military is the King, who is vested with judicial, military, and religious authority upon his coronation. The day-to-day administration of the military is handled by the War Council, composed of the Lords Marshal, Admiral, and Constable, and the twenty generals and admirals of the armies and fleets. Each of the commanders has military authority over a geographical area, and has the power to train and levy troops, maneuver soldiers, conduct defense, and support the civil authorities. While formally this means these commanders can conscript citizens into the army, in practice this almost never needs to happen; the military tradition deeply ingrained in Skyshroudian culture has ensured that the army has functioned well on a volunteer basis for the past century. Uniform standards of military training, education, organization, and doctrine have emerged to ensure that Skyshroud's army is among the most professional and potent.

The army is therefore organized around sixteen *Divisions* of 5,000 soldiers each, comprising a standing army of some 80,000 soldiers. Each division is commanded by a *General*, and is subdivided into ten *companies* of 500 each commanded by a *captain*. A typical division has three companies each of infantry, archers, and cavalry, and a company composed of the command staff and horse guards; a grouping of three companies is sometimes referred to a *regiment* and is commanded by a *Colonel*. The Royal Army also includes several specialist companies, including war mage, engineers, supply, construction, healing, and other support troops; these auxiliaries consist of around 20,000 other soldiers. All told, the Skyshroudian Royal Army has a strength of 100,000 soldiers, the largest standing military in the Empire, and the largest proportional to its of its population. In addition to its massive standing force, much of Skyshroud's citizenry are able to be readily called up for military service. All able-bodied persons are required to serve in the local militia, and most citizens have served a one- or two-year term in the Royal Army due to the recruitment policy maintained after the end of the Gestrin War in 927.

The Royal Navy is also extensive, including some 20,000 sailors and marines operating in four *squadrons*, each commanded by an *Admiral*. These ships and their associated coastal fortifications and port installations enable a vigorous defense of Skyshroud's coast and territorial waters. Trade between Skyshroud, Balendor, Odkarkuz, and the far east occurs along its northern, arctic coast; ships are required to defend these shipping lanes and prevent both piracy and illegal poaching. A large amount of this trade is in whale blubber, whale meat, timber, coal, and iron, all highly valuable resources. The Navy has the hard task of maritime defense in some of the harshest environments in the Empire; its admirals have similar authority as the generals do, in their regions of responsibility.

Soldiers are recruited generally between the ages of 16 and 20, within a geographical area under the authority of the regional commander. They are all sent through a training camp and educated in military tradition, discipline, and fieldcraft. Depending on their skills, they may be assigned to one of the three main branches of the army: infantry, cavalry, or archers, though some specialize further into one of the support roles. The Skyshroudian doctrine is to train all support forces in one of the main combat methods, so that the "tail" can be repurposed as the "tooth" of the army in an emergency. Most volunteer for a two-year term of service in the Army, after which they may return to civilian life, but are liable to be called up for service in wartime to augment the Royal Army. This policy was put in place during the Gestrin War, when Skyshroud sent thousands of soldiers far away to Tethar and needed to maintain a strong border defense against orcish incursions. This has been maintained, and has proven useful during the intensification of the Imperial war in Ucral and Dafruca, and in Skyshroud's war of secession from the Empire.

A select few who demonstrate conspicuous hardiness, magical skill, survival knowledge, and proven bravery or valor, are recruited into the Royal Company of Rangers, a small group of special troops, for further training. Largely borrowing from Lunaran elven youth warrior training, Rangers must pass a test of wilderness survival before being formally inducted; many washout of the program, and some have died from training accidents or exposure. Those that do pass are tattooed in the Alovari custom, with an intricate knotwork tracing around the eyes and down the right side of the face. The Rangers report directly to the Lord Constable, and thence to the King, and are often used for special warfare, such as sabotage, special reconnaissance, psychological warfare, and fomenting rebellion in hostile nations.

### Demographics

Despite its sparse climate and low population, Skyshroud is a diverse country with a complex social fabric. Mainstream Skyshroudian society is multiethnic and culturally blended, with humans, elves, and half-elves intermingling in its settlements. The total population is just over 3.4 million people, with the largest single ethnic or tribal group being Alovari humans. The Alovari comprise around 1.2 million people, over a third of the kingdom's population.

For the most part, the populations of humans and moon elves interact in harmony, and intermarriage has been commonplace. It is for this reason that Skyshroud can boast the highest proportion of half-elves in its population, out of all of the constituent countries of the Empire. Around a million are half-elves of partial human parentage, yet another third of the total populace. In the past, it was customary that a half-elf may be considered culturally Alovari or Lunaran based on their maternal ancestry, but a shift has seen most half-elves identify with the unified culture of Skyshroud itself.

The Moon Elves or Lunara are the most populous of the pure elven ethnicities, constituting half a million people.Humans, half-elves, and moon elves all maintain many tribal customs, and tend to govern themselves on the basis of clan. But a great deal of cultural exhange has happened. The the humans have adopted the long-term, nonlinear thinking of elves, and have adopted the use of the Lunaran language. The moon-elves have adopted the tattooing custom of the humans as a symbol of social status and personal achievement.

The Sun Elves or Soltra have a population of 300,000, and are concentrated in the western half of the kingdom, mostly in impregnable citadels built into the mountains or in fortress towns on the western border. The smallest group of elves are the reclusive Tretier or Wood Elves, with a population of approximately 200,000, though it is impossible to know for certain as they are largely secluded in the Glimmerwood and no accurate count has been done of them.

Skyshroud also contains a sizeable Orcish and half-Orc minority, situated mainly in the western Orc Reservation province, an autonomous region annexed from the Orc Khanate in the 840s, and where pro-alliance Orcs settled in peace as a reward for their aid in the liberation war. They have been counted to be around 100,000 Orcs and 120,000 half-Orcs.

A small number, likely less than 80,000 people, are from varying human and dwarven tribes that dwell in the border regions.

## List of kings

Since 790, the Kingdom of Skyshroud has been ruled by the human **Cortez dynasty** of the Alovari tribe. The following kings have reigned since: