Post by Kaez on Jul 3, 2009 18:28:25 GMT -5
'If I hadn't been a scholar and as such known much better, I would not have hesitated to believe that the Dranadians were but the men of the north dressed for costume balls.' -- More Adventures, by Jamse Abbon
Dranada, the Dranadian
Major or Capital City: New Kijin
Other Cities: (none)
All Towns: Sivva, Bonji, Limpai, Coraca, Zinya, Misdia, North Omai
Government Type: Monarchy. An emperor, empress, or both have complete control over the Dranadian government, with appointed officials managing villages.
Crime and Law: Buccaneers have always been a crime problem in Dranadia, but recent XOXO activity has boosted the issue and the imperial police have grown and gotten stricter.
Professions: While hunting, gathering, farming, and trading are all common professions, Dranada, like Gilaan, revolves around the sea and many of its professions, from sea travel to sea food, rely on such.
Trade, Currency and Economy: The ash is the currency of Dranada, but its use is sparing to moderate, depending on region. Trade is still very common, and only one bank (in New Kijin) represents the empire's economy.
Market: The marketplace is a core to Dranadian civilization, with many foods and supplies common and abundant.
Organizations: The Imperial Exploration Commission, Ahb'adu, and the Blackblade are all reputable organizations in the empire.
Celebrations and Events: Many festive celebrations are practiced in the empire. Though some have lost parts of their meaning and been given new meaning over time, a distinguished list of national holidays remains, often celebrated by fires, rituals, and the drinking of Rainwater (a Dranadian alcohol).
Education: Education is mandatory and free, but minimal. From ages seven to ten, all children of Dranada attend school and learn that basics of literacy and history. Education is mainly provided thereafter through experience and the teachings of parents.
Communication and Language: Literacy rates are impressive at around seventy percent. Their language, as picked up through contact with the other nations of the Known World, is a variant of New Common -- albeit unlike the others, which are more 'accents' than 'variants', Dranadian New Common is distinctive, and contains a respectably sized collection of words not present in any other variation. A very small percentage of the population, between 0.03% and 0.11%, speak native Hintahii, making a grand total of around 500 speakers of the language.
Social Class Structure: Any member of the Imperial Rule is regarded with higher respect than laymen, who are in turn regarded with more respect that buccaneers. There are no distinct and significant social classes in Dranada, though.
Population: With a population of 60,000 in the capital and towns and 45,000 elsewhere, Dranada's population makes it the least-populated nation of the known world.
Nature, Food and Resources: Dranada is mostly jungle, save the far west (open coast) and the far east (forest). Mountains make its northern border, and large regiments of armed forces are put on either border to guard the fairly xenophobic nation. Food and resources from the trees, plants, soil, and animals of the jungle is abundant and often very fresh at market.
Wildlife: Wildlife is plentiful in the jungle, with many large cat breeds, birds, and other mysterious beasts lurking its dark.
Climate: Dranada is nearly, if not, as warm as Ahka-Raa, and certainly much more humid. Rain, fog, and mist soak the harbors, shores, and jungles of the hot empire.
Geography: Geographically simplistic, the nation is a long strip of coastline layered by beaches, jungles, and mountains.
Mounts and Pets: While birds, fish, and amphibians are common house pets, many Dranadian citizens have tamed the large cats of the jungle and use them for hunting and protection. The greenhooves (large, jungle elk) and the rare dire cat are used for mounts, the latter being much less typical.
Technology and Medicine: Technology in Dranada is not as low as many may expect, as their willingness to communicate with others on their continent in recent years has garnered them some knowledge of sophisticated workings. Still, to the layman of Dranada, the simple ways remain best.
Subcultures: The Imperial Exploration Commission is the recent that Dranada is inhabited in the first place. The Dranadian people come from islands to the south -- ones that they know well, but no longer have the infamous vessels that could make the difficult journey back. As such, their skin tone is foreign -- tan, but tanner than those of Akha-Raa or Uhl, it is nearly the color of the soil of their jungles -- a light brown.
They, to this day, are still the ruling class. Those who were their slaves when they came to the land and settled are now free, laymen.
Ahb'adar, 'The Shaman' in Hintahii, are the wise men of Dranada. They are seclusive and mostly very, very old -- some rumored to even be centuries beyond the natural ages of men. They possess great wealths of knowledge and are said to be the holders of ancient witchcraft from the time of their homeland.
The Blackblade, of course, are the buccaneers to whom the seas bow. They are a large, powerful, but loosely-tied organization of bandits, sailors, and cutthroats who united for the cause of plundering and exploration. They love nothing more than seeing never-before-known lands and unveiling their treasures for their own.
Militia: The Imperial guard stands over the gates of the villages, the borders of the empire, and the harbors and docks to await any enemy who might try to take the small nation.
Weapons and Armor: Weapons and armors of the Dranadian peoples is simplistic, and clearly derived from the jungles in which they live. Their spears often lack the metallic tips expected of them, as not to reflect beams of sunlight that shine through the canopy above, and dart-guns and short-bows are made from thin, flexible wood found in such places. Swords are, if not uncommon, less-preferred than other means and armors are usually as flexible and loose as they can be, for maneuvering the dense jungle.
Brief Timeline: No one knows exactly when the Dranadian people left their island homeland to the south and settled in Dranada. Upon what is said to have been a long, treacherous expedition that left their glorious ships beaten and destroyed, they settled in the new land and never again had the technology to sail back. Since 469 BR, long before northern civilizations were even thought of (49 BR, Rose, Rosia), encounters with mysterious, tanned, tribal peoples to the south of Akha-Raa. Since then, besides explorers and importers/exporters, Dranada has not seen many non-natives in their new home, let alone any moving and living there, with only a miniscule percent of the population not born there.
Their harbors and ports, however, are known to see many travelers from distant lands and have been their main source of cultural mixing over the past few hundred years, as besides a few insignificant encounters on its eastern and western borders (its northern mountains being nearly impassable and its naval problems its own sailors), it has not faced warfare.
Relations w/ Other Cultures: Relations with other cultures are minimal outside of imports and exports, and much of the population knows little to nothing of the northernmost nations.
Homes: Homes are wooden, almost exclusively, made from the trees of the jungle.
Religion and Spirituality: The religion of Dranada is nature-based, like their northern cousins in Ichuk and Akha-Raa, but focused strictly on a belief of five basic elements: Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and Blood. The Dranadian Ahb'adar are the dedicated practicioners of this belief. Unlike the shamans of Ichuk, who abandon the civilized world to become a part of nature, the Ahb'adar have gathered into subcultures of strictly their own kinds. They practice daily rituals together, dedicated to the different elements, and often reach extremes -- not short of human sacrifices via the elements.
Architecture: Making their homes as close with the jungle as possible seems to be their native way. Treehouses, built in both the canopies and the trunks of the massive trees are the base of their simplistic architectural style.
Clothing: Clothing is most commonly made of imported cloths and leathers, as the hides of the animals are used for architectural support and roofing, if not dedicated to the witchdoctors out of honor.
Arts and Literature: Literature is common with a respectable literacy rate, and they are the only nation to produce any notable amount of fiction writing -- something common of their native land. They often write heroic, adventurous tales of fictional warriors of their ancient mythology, and such stories are popular and well-known amongst their culture
Entertainment and Culture: The Dranadians are especially fond of pipes and pipe-weed. True, like their most geographical opposites, those of the Kharnathian realm, a good pipe and a strong drink make them feel most at ease.
1 -- New Kijin. The capital and population center of Dranada
2 -- Sivv, a town along the small patch of plains on the western border, against Akha-Raa.
3 -- Bonji, a port town.
4 -- Known only as 'the mountains' to the Dranadians.
5 -- Limpai, one of the two witchdoctor towns.
6 -- Known only as 'the jungle' to the Dranadians.
7 -- Coraca, one of the two witchdoctor towns.
8 -- Zinya, the largest town in Dranada.
9 -- Misdian Woods, against the border to Akha-Raa.
10 -- Misdia, a port town.
11 -- New Omai, the headquarters of the Blackblade buccaneers.
Dranada, the Dranadian
Major or Capital City: New Kijin
Other Cities: (none)
All Towns: Sivva, Bonji, Limpai, Coraca, Zinya, Misdia, North Omai
Government Type: Monarchy. An emperor, empress, or both have complete control over the Dranadian government, with appointed officials managing villages.
Crime and Law: Buccaneers have always been a crime problem in Dranadia, but recent XOXO activity has boosted the issue and the imperial police have grown and gotten stricter.
Professions: While hunting, gathering, farming, and trading are all common professions, Dranada, like Gilaan, revolves around the sea and many of its professions, from sea travel to sea food, rely on such.
Trade, Currency and Economy: The ash is the currency of Dranada, but its use is sparing to moderate, depending on region. Trade is still very common, and only one bank (in New Kijin) represents the empire's economy.
Market: The marketplace is a core to Dranadian civilization, with many foods and supplies common and abundant.
Organizations: The Imperial Exploration Commission, Ahb'adu, and the Blackblade are all reputable organizations in the empire.
Celebrations and Events: Many festive celebrations are practiced in the empire. Though some have lost parts of their meaning and been given new meaning over time, a distinguished list of national holidays remains, often celebrated by fires, rituals, and the drinking of Rainwater (a Dranadian alcohol).
Education: Education is mandatory and free, but minimal. From ages seven to ten, all children of Dranada attend school and learn that basics of literacy and history. Education is mainly provided thereafter through experience and the teachings of parents.
Communication and Language: Literacy rates are impressive at around seventy percent. Their language, as picked up through contact with the other nations of the Known World, is a variant of New Common -- albeit unlike the others, which are more 'accents' than 'variants', Dranadian New Common is distinctive, and contains a respectably sized collection of words not present in any other variation. A very small percentage of the population, between 0.03% and 0.11%, speak native Hintahii, making a grand total of around 500 speakers of the language.
Social Class Structure: Any member of the Imperial Rule is regarded with higher respect than laymen, who are in turn regarded with more respect that buccaneers. There are no distinct and significant social classes in Dranada, though.
Population: With a population of 60,000 in the capital and towns and 45,000 elsewhere, Dranada's population makes it the least-populated nation of the known world.
Nature, Food and Resources: Dranada is mostly jungle, save the far west (open coast) and the far east (forest). Mountains make its northern border, and large regiments of armed forces are put on either border to guard the fairly xenophobic nation. Food and resources from the trees, plants, soil, and animals of the jungle is abundant and often very fresh at market.
Wildlife: Wildlife is plentiful in the jungle, with many large cat breeds, birds, and other mysterious beasts lurking its dark.
Climate: Dranada is nearly, if not, as warm as Ahka-Raa, and certainly much more humid. Rain, fog, and mist soak the harbors, shores, and jungles of the hot empire.
Geography: Geographically simplistic, the nation is a long strip of coastline layered by beaches, jungles, and mountains.
Mounts and Pets: While birds, fish, and amphibians are common house pets, many Dranadian citizens have tamed the large cats of the jungle and use them for hunting and protection. The greenhooves (large, jungle elk) and the rare dire cat are used for mounts, the latter being much less typical.
Technology and Medicine: Technology in Dranada is not as low as many may expect, as their willingness to communicate with others on their continent in recent years has garnered them some knowledge of sophisticated workings. Still, to the layman of Dranada, the simple ways remain best.
Subcultures: The Imperial Exploration Commission is the recent that Dranada is inhabited in the first place. The Dranadian people come from islands to the south -- ones that they know well, but no longer have the infamous vessels that could make the difficult journey back. As such, their skin tone is foreign -- tan, but tanner than those of Akha-Raa or Uhl, it is nearly the color of the soil of their jungles -- a light brown.
They, to this day, are still the ruling class. Those who were their slaves when they came to the land and settled are now free, laymen.
Ahb'adar, 'The Shaman' in Hintahii, are the wise men of Dranada. They are seclusive and mostly very, very old -- some rumored to even be centuries beyond the natural ages of men. They possess great wealths of knowledge and are said to be the holders of ancient witchcraft from the time of their homeland.
The Blackblade, of course, are the buccaneers to whom the seas bow. They are a large, powerful, but loosely-tied organization of bandits, sailors, and cutthroats who united for the cause of plundering and exploration. They love nothing more than seeing never-before-known lands and unveiling their treasures for their own.
Militia: The Imperial guard stands over the gates of the villages, the borders of the empire, and the harbors and docks to await any enemy who might try to take the small nation.
Weapons and Armor: Weapons and armors of the Dranadian peoples is simplistic, and clearly derived from the jungles in which they live. Their spears often lack the metallic tips expected of them, as not to reflect beams of sunlight that shine through the canopy above, and dart-guns and short-bows are made from thin, flexible wood found in such places. Swords are, if not uncommon, less-preferred than other means and armors are usually as flexible and loose as they can be, for maneuvering the dense jungle.
Brief Timeline: No one knows exactly when the Dranadian people left their island homeland to the south and settled in Dranada. Upon what is said to have been a long, treacherous expedition that left their glorious ships beaten and destroyed, they settled in the new land and never again had the technology to sail back. Since 469 BR, long before northern civilizations were even thought of (49 BR, Rose, Rosia), encounters with mysterious, tanned, tribal peoples to the south of Akha-Raa. Since then, besides explorers and importers/exporters, Dranada has not seen many non-natives in their new home, let alone any moving and living there, with only a miniscule percent of the population not born there.
Their harbors and ports, however, are known to see many travelers from distant lands and have been their main source of cultural mixing over the past few hundred years, as besides a few insignificant encounters on its eastern and western borders (its northern mountains being nearly impassable and its naval problems its own sailors), it has not faced warfare.
Relations w/ Other Cultures: Relations with other cultures are minimal outside of imports and exports, and much of the population knows little to nothing of the northernmost nations.
Homes: Homes are wooden, almost exclusively, made from the trees of the jungle.
Religion and Spirituality: The religion of Dranada is nature-based, like their northern cousins in Ichuk and Akha-Raa, but focused strictly on a belief of five basic elements: Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and Blood. The Dranadian Ahb'adar are the dedicated practicioners of this belief. Unlike the shamans of Ichuk, who abandon the civilized world to become a part of nature, the Ahb'adar have gathered into subcultures of strictly their own kinds. They practice daily rituals together, dedicated to the different elements, and often reach extremes -- not short of human sacrifices via the elements.
Architecture: Making their homes as close with the jungle as possible seems to be their native way. Treehouses, built in both the canopies and the trunks of the massive trees are the base of their simplistic architectural style.
Clothing: Clothing is most commonly made of imported cloths and leathers, as the hides of the animals are used for architectural support and roofing, if not dedicated to the witchdoctors out of honor.
Arts and Literature: Literature is common with a respectable literacy rate, and they are the only nation to produce any notable amount of fiction writing -- something common of their native land. They often write heroic, adventurous tales of fictional warriors of their ancient mythology, and such stories are popular and well-known amongst their culture
Entertainment and Culture: The Dranadians are especially fond of pipes and pipe-weed. True, like their most geographical opposites, those of the Kharnathian realm, a good pipe and a strong drink make them feel most at ease.
1 -- New Kijin. The capital and population center of Dranada
2 -- Sivv, a town along the small patch of plains on the western border, against Akha-Raa.
3 -- Bonji, a port town.
4 -- Known only as 'the mountains' to the Dranadians.
5 -- Limpai, one of the two witchdoctor towns.
6 -- Known only as 'the jungle' to the Dranadians.
7 -- Coraca, one of the two witchdoctor towns.
8 -- Zinya, the largest town in Dranada.
9 -- Misdian Woods, against the border to Akha-Raa.
10 -- Misdia, a port town.
11 -- New Omai, the headquarters of the Blackblade buccaneers.
