Belgoria (Existence Supplement)
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The Basics
Belgoria is among the most ancient of all nations, able to track their capitol city, Loria, to nearly 1,200 B.C.E. Though not a formal nation until 0 C.E., Belgorians take pride in the fact that they have such a long recorded history, where even the other great nations fail. To the north lies the Inner Sea and one of the two Dead Passes, while the great ocean covers the entire west coast. Since Belgoria is shaped like an upside down L, the majority of their neighbors, and threats, lie to the east and South. Belgoria only has a small tract of land bordering Aarlan in the south and Tilia in the east, with the Great Forest and the Triporia mountains covering all the other borders.
Ko’To is the northernmost city, and was once a major trade hub, though the land it now stands on was once controlled by Urganto. When Belgoria took back the land, the city started to grow; and now is a thriving metropolis. Bati is a large, well fortified citadel city bordering the Great Forest, and stands protection against any invasion from the elves. Vorlus was once a massive city on the west coast, but is now mostly a rundown has-been, with trade drying up more and more over the years. Asojt is the southernmost major city, lying along the Aarlan border as well as at the southern base of the Triporia mountains. Asojt is a massively fortified city that has control of vast mines in the mountain, but is under constant siege from the Triporia denizens and threat of attack by Aarlan.
Beliefs
The Belgorian Pantheon has a strong following, though some other faiths can be found here as well. Due to its vast size, the nation makes no attempt to expunge those of other faiths. However, since the Belgorian Pantheon is the official religion, no other faith is sanctioned and practitioners are often harassed by locals.
Race & Gender
Humans and Catfolk are the primary races that live in Belgoria, while all other races are seen as second class citizens. Elves are almost always slaves, seen as the bottom of all races thanks to the nearly constant war they have with those living in the Great Forest.
Half-elves are considered little better than their elven parent, but instead of being made slaves, these men and women are pressed into service - mostly as soldiers. Because the state pays the human parent well for their half-elven child, many men have made a decent living raising half-elven children with their female elf slaves until puberty, when they are sold off. Half-elves that do well are often rewarded with rank, or even release from service, and a bonus is given to their human parent. This increased incentive to have stronger, smarter, better children has caused prized elven breeders to be bought and sold for large fortunes with the belief that they produce better offspring.
Women are of a lesser status to men, though only slightly. A woman can do anything she desires, but it simply takes a little more work to get there, and oftentimes less coin along the way. As for slaves, elven males are used for manual labor and tend to live short lives, while elven females are used for their wombs and the next generation of half-elf soldiers they can provide.
Current Affairs
With the end of the continental war nearly twenty years ago, Belgoria has made a tentative peace with almost all of its neighbors. The elves of the Great Forest demand that their brethren be released from shackles, but because so much of the Belgorian economic infrastructure depends on these slaves, they have not complied.
Raids from the Great Forest have increased almost to full-scale war again, with fuel being added to the fire thanks to a recent Belgorian slave-trader’s bright idea. Sneaking into the forest, the trader somehow managed to capture not only one of the elven queens, but her daughter and younger sister as well. Selling all three as a set of prized breeding stock, the slave trader was able to purchase himself a title, a small castle, and a swath of land far from the Great Forest, and so raids to bring him to elven justice end up falling short. While the King might have been inclined to return the three women, the fact that his brother was the one who bought the trio, and that the former queen elf and her daughter are now both pregnant by him, the chances are that all three will be kept, and the elven nation will not be happy.
To make matters worse, Aarlan is now accusing Belgoria of kidnapping the royal heir, a half-elven male, and holding him as a hostage until he is old enough to be pressed into service in the military. True or not, it would seem that Aarlan and the elves of the Great Forest are more than ready for another war - only this time they will be allied.
Classes
Common Classes
• Alchemist: With time to kill, the Alchemist is a common profession to take up. The government eagerly purchases potions and elixirs that will aid them in times of war, making alchemy a valuable pursuit.
• Fighter: Thanks to constant wars, the need for soldiers is ever-growing. Though the vast majority of the Belgorian army consists of Half-Elves, anyone may join the service or take up arms as a mercenary.
• Rogue: In a land full of opportunity for those willing to take it, rogues are commonplace, attempting to claim the hard-earned winnings of others. Often, the most successful slavers are rogues, hunting down their prey and bringing them to the stocks, either through backwater deals or more unscrupulous means.
Rare Classes
• Druid: Believed to be tainted with elven blood, no right-minded citizen of Belgoria would ever walk the path of the Druid. Such is the conviction that elven blood is a requirement of the druid that any found are treated as half-elven, even if they are catfolk.
• Ranger: In a land filled with slavery and second-class citizens, one would think the ranger would have a proper niche to fill, but that is not the case. Though their usefulness is well understood, many Belgorians have come to associate the Ranger with the elves, making them rare and unwelcome in Belgorian society.
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