Roulonne

Location of Roulonne

### Ethnicity

Predominantly Roulonnais, with significant Black Elvish and Ruawi Orcish minorities and Dragon minority

### Religion

Diverse plurality; see religions section

Roulonne is a country within the Nesarian Empire. Its head of state is the High King, a hereditary position. Officially, it has no state religion, but Asarebas plays a major role in governance. It is notable for being the native land of the Dragons, the Black Elves and the now-extinct Dark Elves. Roulonne also contains a significant population of Vampires and Orcs, and a small minority of Elves. It is the most racially diverse country of Inecuria by a significant margin, and somewhat unsurprisingly, it has the longest and most bitter history of inter-racial conflict, prejudice and oppression. Roulonne's national animal is the Unicorn, which is endemic to the country.

The Dragons had long been able to assert their dominance over the region due to their sheer innate power, but beginning in approximately 200BC (though some historians push this further back to around 250BC) they began to position themselves as the undisputed rulers, seeking to fully conquer and annex neighbouring lands rather than merely make them into tributaries, as had been the traditional practice before. Their single greatest gain came in around 180BC, when at the behest of local rulers - predominantly the Black Elves - they carried out a program of total extermination against the Dark Elves, winning the favour of neighbouring realms and displaying their true power in terrifying and horrific fashion to those who still considered resistance. The Dragons harshly imposed their strict racial caste system upon the lands they annexed, which slowly but steadily built resentment against them which came to a head in the Glorious Rebellion of 143-146 AD, instigated and led by King Royard III of Loquienne and fought under the reign of Empress Rixa, which succeeded in throwing off the Dragon yoke and firmly putting dominion of the country in the hands of the Roulonnais Humans, who in turn swore loyalty to the Nesarian Empire.

Although Roulonne shares a border with Chalparna, there has historically been negligible contact between the two civilisations due to the near-impassable Violet Mountains that mark out the border. This geographic feature, though now not posing the same extreme danger it once did, continues to leave the two countries relatively isolated from one another.

## Name

The name Roulonne translates as "Roul's land" or "Roul's country", named after the legendary founder of the country (and supposed demigod), King Roul. The country is officially known as Roulonne, but it is often referred to by its Elvic name of Rulon (occasionally also Rulona) even in official usage. However, Roulonne also has several other names given to it by other nations.

To the Black Elves, who are also native to the country, the place is known as Dubanya, which has unclear etymology and may itself be a corrupted loanword. A common additional nickname for the country amongst Black Elves is Baruyon, which literally means "pink-land", although Baruyon can also generally be used to refer to any land inhabited by people who are not Black Elves; it derives from their nickname for Humans, "pinkskin", a nickname also sometimes given to Elves.

To the Ruawi Orcs, the country is known as Rolotoa, which is a direct Ruawi translation of Roulonne; it too means "Roul's country". A similar variant which is rarely heard in modern times but was historically popular is Roloweg, meaning "Roul's domain", or more literally "Roul's law", which notably fell out of use during the period of Dragon rule. The neighbouring Kuateohi Orcs have followed the same pattern since their integration into the Empire, calling the country Routeoha (also often rendered Rūteoha), which again means "Roul's Country". The pre-unification name is still in occasional use today; Kulakoa, meaning "southern plain" or "southern meadow".

The Draconic rendition of Roulonne comes in two forms; the corrupted loanword, Lúlon (pronounced /lɤlɑ̃n/ - Draconic vowels do not transcribe easily), and the direct translation of "Roul's country", Lúaka (/lɤɑkɑ/). However, Dragons also know it as Kiisa'aka, a name which - similar to the Black Elvish name of Baruyon - originally and still technically refers to anywhere not inhabited by Dragons, but came to mean the land of Roulonne specifically. The term Kiisa has no direct English translation; the diplomatic translation would be "non-Dragon", but its actual meaning is closer to "little creature" or "lesser creature".

Roulonne's two neighbours, Chalparna and Epsilucia, additionally have their own names for the country. In Chalparni, Roulonne is known as Rolyavasa (literally "Roul's kingdom"). The Elvic Epsilucians refer to the country as Relona, whereas the native Häpsiluukians call it Rulheivas ("Roul's pasture" or "Roul's grazing land"), and they refer to the Roulonnais nation as Rulsket ("Roul's people").

## Historic Kingdoms

Although Roulonne is spoken of as a kingdom, it refers to itself as a "High Kingdom" made up of several lesser kingdoms, ruled by a High King who presides over other Kings. Ever since King Royard III threw off the Draconic yoke in the Glorious Rebellion and reorganised the hierarchy of Roulonne, the position of High King has been held by the Chans-Loquienne dynasty, based in the Kingdom of Loquienne - which, unsurprisingly, Royard ensured would forever be the most powerful of the kingdoms. Besides Loquienne, there are also the kingdoms of Bourron, Serrou and Auvonde, and the northern region of Ribalouse is split between the twin duchies of Viëroy and Selibarde.

## Diversity

Roulonne is by far the most racially diverse of all the countries of Inecuria. Indigenous to the country are Humans, Black Elves, Orcs, Dragons and the now-extinct Dark Elves. Vampires migrated into Roulonne and became a significant population at some time soon after the Annihilation, and generally integrated into Roulonnais society, culture and politics far more successfully than their cousins who migrated to Nesaria. There is also a notable minority of Elves along the coast, who originate from colonies originally settled by Saveria which largely voluntarily swore allegiance to the local powers after their motherland eventually proved to be both unwilling and incapable of defending and supplying them.

The ratio of how sizeable these populations are compared to one another has varied significantly throughout history. Humans have always been dominant, and both Elves and Dragons have always been few in number, but the Black Elves, Orcs and Vampires all used to take up a greater proportion of the total population of Roulonne than they do in the modern day. In the case of the Orcs, this was predominantly caused by the Orcish refugee crisis from the Ruawi Genocide; a huge number of Orcs were either slain or were driven into neighbouring Keloruela. In the case of the Black Elves, this can be attributed partly to their much lower reproduction rate compared to Humans and partly to the mass slaughter they suffered at the hands of the Dark Elves shortly before the near-extermination of that race.

The case of the Vampires is simply due to their lower rate of reproduction, both in natural terms and also, seemingly, deliberately; roughly ever since the 10th century AD it has been widely believed amongst the Vampires that it does not actually benefit their race to have large numbers, and they discourage having many children. Being a smaller population relative to the other creatures is believed to be beneficial in that it increases the supply of blood and flesh to individual Vampires, thereby reducing the risk of starvation. It also makes Vampires as a collective appear less threatening to outsiders, discouraging their neighbours from making the kind of racially-motivated attacks upon them that were common in the ancient past.

## Religions

Roulonne is the most religiously diverse of all the countries of the Nesarian Empire, with no clear religious majority. Asarebas is the most prominent religion, adhered to by approximately 32% of the population, but there are also significant numbers of Christians, Elvetans and Geranites, with small numbers of Nakkalites, Morrokhis, Muslims and those following the Draconic religion.

Study of religions in Roulonne is significantly complicated by the long-standing tradition of religious syncretism, particularly in Ribalouse in the north. With the notable exception of a few religions, most Roulonnais do not strictly adhere to the orthodoxy of their faith and will readily worship or venerate deities not found within the pantheon they identify with. In particular, the majority of Asarebians recognise some or even all of the deities of the Morrokhi, Draconic and Elvetan pantheons and may pray to them or make sacrifices.

The popularity of inter-religious syncretism means that identifying the true religious leaning of most Roulonnaise is a difficult task. The Christians, Muslims, Nakkalites and the Black Elvish Elvetans (though not necessarily the Humans) invariably stick to the orthodoxy of their own religion, but other religions are often muddled and divisions between them are not clearly defined. What an individual self-identifies as religiously is, in many cases, rather arbitrary.

## Draconica

Draconica is the Elvicised form of Drakanaaka, which literally translates as "Dragon-land". Draconica is a small, roughly circular geographic region in south-eastern Roulonne, entirely enclosed by sheer mountains, which is the native homeland of the Dragons. It is inhabited exclusively by Dragons; they are the only race with the legal right to reside in the region, and even if that were not the case, the challenging terrain and inaccessible nature of the surrounding mountains means that land-bound creatures could not live there anyway. Any non-Dragons wishing to enter Draconica must procure written permission from the local authority.

The sheer mountains which surround Draconica are almost certainly not of natural origin, and in all likelihood neither is the large Holy Mountain which lies at the centre. At the peak of the Holy Mountain lies the Temple of the Eternal Flame, which holds an ancient fire said to have been lit by the Flame-Bearer himself. Draconic tradition holds that if this fire ever goes out, the world will fall into chaos and woe. Approximately a third of the way up the Holy Mountain is the entrance into the cave system containing the Words of the Elder Days, the oldest information archive on the planet which is protected fiercely and violently by the Elder Guardians. It is essentially the Draconic counterpart to the Red Library of Feronar, said to contain not only extremely ancient history but also dangerous knowledge of magic.

The isolated nature of Draconica has resulted in a unique ecosystem forming within the mountains. Though the region is not entirely devoid of plants, the primary basis of the local ecosystem is fungi. Although moss can be found covering the earth, there is no grass; instead most of the terrain is covered in furry mould-like fungi, and large mushrooms can be found sprouting in places where nutrients are more plentiful. Prolonged exposure to the spores produced by these fungi can be harmful to hominids, but the Dragons and other local creatures are not affected - and, though it has never been tested, presumably neither would the Dungors, who also live in a fungus-based ecosystem and developed specialised filtration systems in their airways to protect against spores.