Post by HDM Legacy on Mar 5, 2016 23:13:45 GMT
"Ahh, Bergen. I like to think of my erstwhile countrymen as overgrown Dwarves. Honorable. Industrious. Clever. Ridiculously wealthy. Tough as nails, and deadly warriors. It's a pity they're so stubborn."
~Berg expatriate artist Johan Kreutz
Country: Bergen
Capital: Andwil
Language: Bergese
Population: 11,000,000 61% Human, 9% Goblin, 6% Hobgoblin, 3% Dwarf, 1% Half Orc, 3% Elf, 7% Half Elf, 7% Halfling, 2% Gnome, 1% Other
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Current Ruler: His Majesty Theobold “The Just” Aldricht II
Religion: Ara, Solon, Eduna, and Druidism. The faiths of Moloch and Pyrhas are outlawed. Achlys' faith is unpopular.
Allies: Westvale, City of Arten, Isenfiodr, Etrusca
Enemies: Scythia. Dislikes Sarmatia.
Economy: Guild Capitalist
Imports: Salt, Coral, Pearls, Hardwoods, Platinum, Copper
Exports: Masterworked Weapons and Armor, Clocks, Jewelry, Luxury Confections,Siegecraft, Mercenary Contracts
Overview
Once a province of the now collapsed Miranian Empire, Bergen gained it's independence about three centuries ago. Religious and cultural differences led to a lengthy period of failed political maneuverings designed to attain a peaceful secession. The failed negotiations were followed a brief yet bloody war in which the Bergen people rose up and expelled the resident Legion forces and Senate officials. While bad blood has simmered beneath the surface for years because of the rebellion, for the most part Etrusca was gracious in their defeat. Sixty years after the rebellion, they established trade and diplomatic relations with their wayward child, and since then the wounds have begun to heal at a slow yet steady pace.
Bergen's small military, resultant low taxes, and economic thrift make for some of the wealthiest citizens of any country. It's craftsmen and traders are adept at taking raw materials and fashioning them into some of the most beautiful and useful products known to the world, and conveying them to people who need them. Bergen's banking and financial institutions are rivaled only by the Dwarves of Gray Hills, and their confectionaries are famed the world over. With all their technological innovation and financial prowess, people often forget the Bergs' warrior culture.
Geography
Bergen is a country both isolated and protected by the spectacular ring of mountains that surround it. The craggy peaks are only broken in 4 places by narrow mountain passes, three of which are closed by deep snow during the winter, and the fourth of which is a narrow, rocky, 30 meter wide canyon framed by towering cliffs, which dips below sea level. Lined by tunnels, sniper's nests,and home to a single iron gate guarded by a single, tall, tower, the canyon itself can be flooded, thus drowning an invading army.
While Bergen itself has no major rivers running through it, numerous small streams, creeks, and brooks fed by melting mountain snows and springs dot its landscape, trickling down into a number of ponds and lakes famous throughout the world for the stunning crystalline clarity of their pebble bedded depths. Bergen counts as their national waters several hundred square miles along the southwestern edge of Lake Arten, and it is from these waters that the country derives the majority of their fish and shellfish.
The center of Bergen's idyllic landscape is composed of gently rolling hills, open plains, ancient forests, and rustic villages. Bergen's capital, Andwil, is the nation's only metropolis, leaving the rest of the country to it's natural beauty. Small farms, villages, and hamlets dot Bergen's countryside, and house the remainder of it's populace.
Climate
Bergen's climate is in large part governed by it's mountainous terrain. It is a common thing to go from a thunderous storm on one side of a mountain range, to a peaceful, sunny cloudless sky on the other. Northern Bergen tends to be colder than Southern Bergen, but both regions experience a cold winter, and deep snows.
Politics
Bergen is governed by a constitutional monarchy. The King shares power with a House of Commons, and a House of Nobles, with each of the three branches of power able to cancel each other out, thus creating a balance. This combination of Etruscan democracy and Northern tribal monarchy is in unique in the world, and a product of Bergen's identity as an old province of the Empire. The mix of stubborn tradition and innovative progress is a theme common throughout Bergen, and nowhere more obvious than in their government.
Bergen is currently in a shaky economic alliance with the Morcavians, and supplements that vast realm's own army with additional arms, armor, and provender in their endless war against the horrors pouring out of the Riftlands. Some criticize the Bergs for this alliance, as Morcavia is well known as a bastion of tyranny, bloodshed, and cruelty. Others point out that Morcavia is not the true enemy, and that Bergen is wisely choosing to ally themselves with the Kingdom of Blood because of the bigger picture.
Religion
The majority of Bergen's inhabitants worship Ara, with a considerable minority walking the path of the druids, Solon, or following Eduna. Worshiping either Moloch or Pyrhas is enough to get a citizen banished, and worship of Achlys is considered a scandalous thing, though not illegal, a conditional brought on by the shaky alliance currently held between Bergen and Morcavia. Andwil, the Capital of Bergen, is said to have been built on the very ground where Solon and Ara fought Moloch during the Darkening, and is the seat of the Champion's faith. A large cathedral to Solon also exists in Andwil, as a tribute to the deity that saved the Knight Paragon when he was ill beset by the Dark God.
Culture
In contrast to the progressive Etruscans, the people of Bergen are harshly conservative in some ways, though quite forward thinking in others. Slavery was outlawed in the mountain kingdom as part of their constitution, and slavers caught within their national borders are usually stripped of their belongings, which are used to enrich their “stock”, and then imprisoned for a time before they are released. This has resulted in some tension between Bergen and the countries of Andilla, Morcavia, and Scythia, all three of which allow slavery, and whose slaves regularly seek freedom in Bergen. The Republic of Etrusca alone appears to have adjusted itself to Bergen's status as a haven for escapes slaves, and is rather laissez-faire about it; reasoning that if an owner is sloppy enough to lose his slaves, he doesn't deserve to own them in the first place.
Racism is frowned upon, though the resident goblins and hobgoblins, remnants of the once vast Scythian Empire, are almost universally mistrusted and hated. These savage raiders live high in the mountain caves, deep pits, and haunted, forsaken forests of Bergen. Even the most accepting of Bergs knows it would find it hard to tolerate them. Most are at best unscrupulous mercenaries, and at worst roaming bandits.
In contrast to their merciful stance on slavery, the average Berg's stance on non traditional lifestyles is unforgiving. Drug use, heavy drinking, sexual promiscuity, wild parties, and any sort of deviance from expected societal norms is frowned upon. This has led to a modest expatriate population of Bergs in Etrusca, Sarmatia, Isenfiodr, and Morcavia, whose cultures tend to be more accepting of bohemian lifestyles.
Poverty has a presence in Bergen, though smaller than one might think. Charities, food banks, and orphanages are commonplace, and giving to the less fortunate is considered not only necessary, but virtuous.
As a whole, Bergen is a conservative rural country that favors small town values, such as tradition, patriotism, hard work, independence, thrift, self defense, and honor. The mostly homogenous structure of their isolated society allows the Berg people economic strength and political unity like few other nations posses, but some say this wealth, unity, and power is bought at the cost of small minds and narrow views.
The Bergs will tell you that's your problem, not theirs.
Military
Bergen's standing military is small but elite, numbering only twenty thousand men. Most of these are stationed in the capital, with the remaining eight thousand split between each of the four mountain passes into the country. The cavalry is made up of the nobility and knights, while infantry and siege workers are composed of volunteers trained by the government. Soldiers of Bergen are the envy of warriors the world over, as all carry only the finest armor and weapons. Several privately funded armies call Bergen home, and Berg mercenaries are feared the world over.
While the modest size of their standing military has led more than once to neighboring countries assuming that Bergen would make an easy conquest, each has in their turn been defeated. Andilla and Scythia each have taken a try at Bergen over the past three hundred years, and each were thrown back with heavy losses. This is because every male citizen of Bergen between the ages of fifteen and fifty is a member of the national militia, and trains a week out of every month. Every citizen knows the land (and their favorite weapon) like the back of their hand.
Regional Trait:
Berg: +2 to Climb and Survival checks. One will always be a class skill. +1 insight bonus to attacks with a single melee or ranged weapon type of your choice. You must be proficient with this weapon.
~Berg expatriate artist Johan Kreutz
Country: Bergen
Capital: Andwil
Language: Bergese
Population: 11,000,000 61% Human, 9% Goblin, 6% Hobgoblin, 3% Dwarf, 1% Half Orc, 3% Elf, 7% Half Elf, 7% Halfling, 2% Gnome, 1% Other
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Current Ruler: His Majesty Theobold “The Just” Aldricht II
Religion: Ara, Solon, Eduna, and Druidism. The faiths of Moloch and Pyrhas are outlawed. Achlys' faith is unpopular.
Allies: Westvale, City of Arten, Isenfiodr, Etrusca
Enemies: Scythia. Dislikes Sarmatia.
Economy: Guild Capitalist
Imports: Salt, Coral, Pearls, Hardwoods, Platinum, Copper
Exports: Masterworked Weapons and Armor, Clocks, Jewelry, Luxury Confections,Siegecraft, Mercenary Contracts
Overview
Once a province of the now collapsed Miranian Empire, Bergen gained it's independence about three centuries ago. Religious and cultural differences led to a lengthy period of failed political maneuverings designed to attain a peaceful secession. The failed negotiations were followed a brief yet bloody war in which the Bergen people rose up and expelled the resident Legion forces and Senate officials. While bad blood has simmered beneath the surface for years because of the rebellion, for the most part Etrusca was gracious in their defeat. Sixty years after the rebellion, they established trade and diplomatic relations with their wayward child, and since then the wounds have begun to heal at a slow yet steady pace.
Bergen's small military, resultant low taxes, and economic thrift make for some of the wealthiest citizens of any country. It's craftsmen and traders are adept at taking raw materials and fashioning them into some of the most beautiful and useful products known to the world, and conveying them to people who need them. Bergen's banking and financial institutions are rivaled only by the Dwarves of Gray Hills, and their confectionaries are famed the world over. With all their technological innovation and financial prowess, people often forget the Bergs' warrior culture.
Geography
Bergen is a country both isolated and protected by the spectacular ring of mountains that surround it. The craggy peaks are only broken in 4 places by narrow mountain passes, three of which are closed by deep snow during the winter, and the fourth of which is a narrow, rocky, 30 meter wide canyon framed by towering cliffs, which dips below sea level. Lined by tunnels, sniper's nests,and home to a single iron gate guarded by a single, tall, tower, the canyon itself can be flooded, thus drowning an invading army.
While Bergen itself has no major rivers running through it, numerous small streams, creeks, and brooks fed by melting mountain snows and springs dot its landscape, trickling down into a number of ponds and lakes famous throughout the world for the stunning crystalline clarity of their pebble bedded depths. Bergen counts as their national waters several hundred square miles along the southwestern edge of Lake Arten, and it is from these waters that the country derives the majority of their fish and shellfish.
The center of Bergen's idyllic landscape is composed of gently rolling hills, open plains, ancient forests, and rustic villages. Bergen's capital, Andwil, is the nation's only metropolis, leaving the rest of the country to it's natural beauty. Small farms, villages, and hamlets dot Bergen's countryside, and house the remainder of it's populace.
Climate
Bergen's climate is in large part governed by it's mountainous terrain. It is a common thing to go from a thunderous storm on one side of a mountain range, to a peaceful, sunny cloudless sky on the other. Northern Bergen tends to be colder than Southern Bergen, but both regions experience a cold winter, and deep snows.
Politics
Bergen is governed by a constitutional monarchy. The King shares power with a House of Commons, and a House of Nobles, with each of the three branches of power able to cancel each other out, thus creating a balance. This combination of Etruscan democracy and Northern tribal monarchy is in unique in the world, and a product of Bergen's identity as an old province of the Empire. The mix of stubborn tradition and innovative progress is a theme common throughout Bergen, and nowhere more obvious than in their government.
Bergen is currently in a shaky economic alliance with the Morcavians, and supplements that vast realm's own army with additional arms, armor, and provender in their endless war against the horrors pouring out of the Riftlands. Some criticize the Bergs for this alliance, as Morcavia is well known as a bastion of tyranny, bloodshed, and cruelty. Others point out that Morcavia is not the true enemy, and that Bergen is wisely choosing to ally themselves with the Kingdom of Blood because of the bigger picture.
Religion
The majority of Bergen's inhabitants worship Ara, with a considerable minority walking the path of the druids, Solon, or following Eduna. Worshiping either Moloch or Pyrhas is enough to get a citizen banished, and worship of Achlys is considered a scandalous thing, though not illegal, a conditional brought on by the shaky alliance currently held between Bergen and Morcavia. Andwil, the Capital of Bergen, is said to have been built on the very ground where Solon and Ara fought Moloch during the Darkening, and is the seat of the Champion's faith. A large cathedral to Solon also exists in Andwil, as a tribute to the deity that saved the Knight Paragon when he was ill beset by the Dark God.
Culture
In contrast to the progressive Etruscans, the people of Bergen are harshly conservative in some ways, though quite forward thinking in others. Slavery was outlawed in the mountain kingdom as part of their constitution, and slavers caught within their national borders are usually stripped of their belongings, which are used to enrich their “stock”, and then imprisoned for a time before they are released. This has resulted in some tension between Bergen and the countries of Andilla, Morcavia, and Scythia, all three of which allow slavery, and whose slaves regularly seek freedom in Bergen. The Republic of Etrusca alone appears to have adjusted itself to Bergen's status as a haven for escapes slaves, and is rather laissez-faire about it; reasoning that if an owner is sloppy enough to lose his slaves, he doesn't deserve to own them in the first place.
Racism is frowned upon, though the resident goblins and hobgoblins, remnants of the once vast Scythian Empire, are almost universally mistrusted and hated. These savage raiders live high in the mountain caves, deep pits, and haunted, forsaken forests of Bergen. Even the most accepting of Bergs knows it would find it hard to tolerate them. Most are at best unscrupulous mercenaries, and at worst roaming bandits.
In contrast to their merciful stance on slavery, the average Berg's stance on non traditional lifestyles is unforgiving. Drug use, heavy drinking, sexual promiscuity, wild parties, and any sort of deviance from expected societal norms is frowned upon. This has led to a modest expatriate population of Bergs in Etrusca, Sarmatia, Isenfiodr, and Morcavia, whose cultures tend to be more accepting of bohemian lifestyles.
Poverty has a presence in Bergen, though smaller than one might think. Charities, food banks, and orphanages are commonplace, and giving to the less fortunate is considered not only necessary, but virtuous.
As a whole, Bergen is a conservative rural country that favors small town values, such as tradition, patriotism, hard work, independence, thrift, self defense, and honor. The mostly homogenous structure of their isolated society allows the Berg people economic strength and political unity like few other nations posses, but some say this wealth, unity, and power is bought at the cost of small minds and narrow views.
The Bergs will tell you that's your problem, not theirs.
Military
Bergen's standing military is small but elite, numbering only twenty thousand men. Most of these are stationed in the capital, with the remaining eight thousand split between each of the four mountain passes into the country. The cavalry is made up of the nobility and knights, while infantry and siege workers are composed of volunteers trained by the government. Soldiers of Bergen are the envy of warriors the world over, as all carry only the finest armor and weapons. Several privately funded armies call Bergen home, and Berg mercenaries are feared the world over.
While the modest size of their standing military has led more than once to neighboring countries assuming that Bergen would make an easy conquest, each has in their turn been defeated. Andilla and Scythia each have taken a try at Bergen over the past three hundred years, and each were thrown back with heavy losses. This is because every male citizen of Bergen between the ages of fifteen and fifty is a member of the national militia, and trains a week out of every month. Every citizen knows the land (and their favorite weapon) like the back of their hand.
Regional Trait:
Berg: +2 to Climb and Survival checks. One will always be a class skill. +1 insight bonus to attacks with a single melee or ranged weapon type of your choice. You must be proficient with this weapon.