FIORE

The Iron Kingdom

Tone: Serious, stern, and militant caste-oriented feudal society.
Timeframe: -3500 to present
Artifice: High
Region: Tears of Vrylakos
Capital: Marsta (city ~340,000; royal province and demesnes ~1,250,000)
Notable Settlements: Grand Duchy of Asaron (~800,000), Grand Duchy of Barolk (~670,000), Grand Duchy of Tarist (~630,000), Grand Duchy of Varza (~480,000), Sovereign City of Lemontra (~310,000), Orm's Fortress (~240,000), Sovereign County of Brell (~220,000), Jarl's Shardlet (~180,000), Sovereign County of Vardock (~80,000)
Government: Monarchy (typically Hereditary, but not always)
Ruler: His Royal Majesty the King of Fiore, Alabrid Baristol
Races: Human (95%), Merren (4%), Other (1%)
Languages: Fiorean, Vrylakian
Religions: Tearic Pantheon
Coinage: Abas (large orb of gold, 5gp); Bas (a thick golden coin, 1gp); Anis (large orb of silver, 5sp), Nis (a thick silver coin, 1sp); Agar (large orb of copper, 5cp), Gar (a thick copper coin, 1cp)

Synopsis

Fiore, the fabled Iron Kingdom, is composed of an enormous Tear that takes several weeks to travel across on foot as well as several smaller nearby outlying Shards. Very near the so-called Beneath, Fiore is in constant danger of incursions by Tleyzu. Due to the constant risk of danger from these daemonic entities, the inhabitants of Fiore are very militant and organized. Armsmen shield those who toil the land from the travails of the 'Tween, as part of a system of fealty and service, knights and chivalry, lords and peasants, wealth and danger.

Rich in metals lacking in most of the other Tears, Fiore supports a powerful warrior culture of heavily armored combatants. Fiore’s Skyknights, Warders, and the various Crown-sworn Orders such as the Black Harts are perhaps the most famous of warrior brotherhoods, but certainly not the only ones in this embattled land; less well known or prestigious groups exist as well such as the Order of the Iron Bastion.

Fiore is one of the so-called "Nine"; the nations of the Tear recognized to be the most powerful, important, and influential, and is arguably at the top of the list in terms of real power due to its size, population, metal-based wealth, and formidable military. However, it is also the closest to the Beneath of the Nine and farther away from the heart of the Tears and is thus sometimes marginalized by the other major players.

Also adding to their semi-isolation from the other Tears, Fioreans speak an eponymous offshoot dialect of Vrylakian that other folk of the Tears generally find hard-edged and difficult both to understand and to listen to.

Historically the Tear of Fiore supported numerous kingdoms and fiefdoms, and war among neighboring nations was commonplace. However, with the opening of the Maw and the flood of Tleyzu it brought the various nations found it necessary to band together or else perish. Over the course of a couple of generations, the nation of Marstallia emerged dominant, ruled over by the ancient Sparstag family.

The Fiorean fealty system seems quite confusing to the inhabitants of smaller Tears. Initially organized as the King of Marstallia becoming the High King of Fiore, ruling over the sovereigns of lesser nations regardless of whether they called themselves a King or something else. After a few centuries of the Sparstag's cementing their control a formalized system of titles determined via a formula based upon population and geographical area was instituted and the High King concept was discarded. The rulers of major sub-nations became Grand Dukes which are considered sovereign entities, while a handful of rulers of smaller and less populous regions became Sovereign Counts or Barons. The Sovereign nobles owe fealty to the King and no one else and have special privileges and control over their own demesnes. Note that the Crown-sworn lands have duchies, counties, and baronies, Grand Duchies contain counties and baronies, and Sovereign Counties contain baronies, but the holders of such lands and titles are not considered to be sovereign nobles, and non-sovereign Counts and Barons in a Grand Duchy or Sovereign County owe fealty to the applicable Grand Duke or Sovereign Count rather than directly to the King.

Older historical documents can be difficult to decipher due to references to no longer extant titles and older political constructs and holdings, but for the most part the old royal families of the ancient nations are the progenitors of the major nobles of the current era and the old national borders more or less correspond to the modern noble holdings even though the official titles and some lines on maps have changed a bit.

Generally speaking modern Fiore is a proud and unified nation, but some pockets remain where the locals still identify with their ancient heritage as a separate people and evince some differences from Fiorean norms. For the most part such differences amount to little more than regional color, and quirky variations on common themes such as holidays or styles of dress or colloquialisms.

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Magic

Winding: There is a strong tradition of Winding among the Fiorean nobility, but it is typically practiced by women and younger sons as elder sons are expected to advance themselves with military pursuits.

There are numerous Priests of the Pentatra in temples around Fiore. A few minor temples to other gods have invested representatives maintaining them as well; in particular those dedicated to either Avashek or Darui who are very popular among Fioreans.

Herbalism-oriented Alchemy, practitioners of which are typically called Wisdoms if female or Wyrdinnmen if male, is common in rural regions and very popular with the commonfolk. In addition to making poultices and remedies Wisdoms and Wyrdinnmen also act as midwives and physickers. While the affluent and rich city-folk prefer to hire the services of Winders skilled in Life magic, more impoverished and rural nobles rely on Herbalism for their health just as the commoners do and a good herbalist can make a decent living in the country.

Some Wildlings are born now and then, typically along family lines, but there is no formalized or centralized teaching or traditions to develop broad talents. Fioreans believe such "natural" talents demonstrate a certain raw proclivity for more refined magic, and those with strong talents are typically assimilated into the practice of Winding separate from their inborn gifts.

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Details

Opera: Fiorean's take their grand operatic tradition very seriously and have a deep sense of national pride in the matter.

Lemontra: The Sovereign City of Lemontra is unusual in that it is technically and historically a Sovereign Barony originally defined as a large trading town and the lands immediately around it. However over the centuries the town grew and is now a thriving city that officially completely occupies all of the land allocated to the original Barony and unofficially a few miles more that are actually Crown land. The name of the Barony was officially changed to be The Sovereign City of Lemontra due to taxation laws several decades ago (tax laws apply differently to land that is urban vs rural). Though it is still ruled over by the Sovereign Baron of Lemontra on paper there is a constant struggle for control between the nobility of the city as represented by the Baron and those owing fealty to him, and the rich merchants and craftsfolk of the elected Council of Lemontra. As the second largest city in Fiore and one built on trade, Lemontra is very wealthy and the quality of life is high. In addition to many Orderhausen of various warrior societies it is also home to the respected Institute of Higher Learning (or the Lemontran Institute of Fiore as it is more widely known abroad).
Institute of Higher Learning: an established university with a diverse curriculum. In addition to its standard courses of study, the Institute is also home to the Crown-sponsored Fiorean College of Heraldic Arts, the Crown-sponsored Arbis Sparstag Memorial College of History and Realpolitic, and the Barga School of Windery and Sciences which teaches higher mathematics and engineering, and Winding to a very divided student body.
The Order of the Iron Bastion: an Order of minor noble warriors dedicated to defending the weak against the perils of the Beneath.
The Honorable Order of Skyknights: an Order of high-flyin death-defyin rich kid Knights that ply lance and shield from the backs of flying Wyrdallond mounts.
The Crown-sworn Order of the Grey Bulls: responsible for the leadership of the Royal Fiorean Armies, the formidable Grey Bulls wield tremendous influence and have great prestige.
The Crown-sworn Order of the Silver Eagles: the sheriffs and judges of Fiore, those of this order wield considerable authority and influence.

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Adventure Seeds

Falling Standards: the Grand Duke of Tarist's family has ruled in the fortress of Vorsaat for generations, but the family's ancient standard has never flown above Vorsaat's walls as it was lost aboard the warship Ravager of Ælven Dreams when the family's distant ancestor went down in the final battle with Tallisindar, before Baron General Ors Sargod executed his famous trap. Thought lost forever, it was recently recovered aboard a Xauphinellean wreck found drifting in the 'Tween and salvaged by a Na'Garo hulk ship. The Grand Duke wants this important piece of his line's history and honor acquired and has agreed to pay a lordly price, but needs trusty minions to escort his agent with the payment to Han'Harstaan where the Na'Garo are in port, and back again with the remnants of the banner.

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GM's Notes

Fiore is an ideal place to start a Vrylakian campaign as it is so large that there is plenty of room to host a more traditional fealty-fantasy oriented game with a lot of courtly drama, skulduggery, politics, adventures, and so forth. The ancient history of Fiore, constant threat of Tleyzu and miscellaneous monsters from the Maw, and the many underground mines offers lots of opportunity to inject old school location based delves through old ruins, possibly monster-infested tunnels, and so forth. The old cities, priesthoods of the Tearic Pantheon, martial orders, and diverse magical traditions offer grist for all sorts of character origins. Once adventure opportunities taper out or the players want to experience grander scale adventures the GM can easily introduce a sky-ship to the mix and take the game into the broader setting of the Tears and the 'Tween.

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