Arnae Aida (Kingdom of Aida)

NAME: Arnae Aida (Kingdom of Aida)

KINGDOM AT A GLANCE: Aida is a Kingdom centered around the Library at Daneith, a repository for knowledge both mundane and arcane that the Elves have been collecting for millennia.  Around the downturn of the Empire, the Elves closed their borders with magic and scouts.  The magic turns people away from their border, to the effect that even people who had just left the Elven lands would not be able to turn around and walk back in.  The scouts are there in case an enterprising mage decides to fight his way through the spells and wards.  The only sure access to the Kingdom of Aida is through the aiudarin paths, a set of pathways that exist in a magical quasi-plane.  They take the shape of underground tunnels lit by magical light.  These paths lead to and from the kingdom and various points around the continent, and possibly beyond.  The only access to these pathways is through an aiudari stone, a stone that has been spelled to open access to the path.  Once the paths have been accessed, the traveler still needs to know which way to walk, as the tunnels cross each other and have no identifiable markings.

SIZE AND LOCATION: Medium.  The Kingdom of Aida physically exists in the west, beyond the Great Western Forest.  The Aidan Kingdom exists in a valley surrounded by mountains to the west, north, and south, leaving a very small expanse on the east for physical access.  

WEALTH: Medium.  The Kingdom does not currently have trade with anyone, as they have closed their borders.  Their vale is fairly self-sufficient.  The resources they have, however, in knowledge and natural resources, could be monetized fairly easily.

STABILITY: Medium.  There are factions within the Kingdom that vie for power.  While the Crown has final say, the nobility have a large amount of leeway in exercising authority.  The current majority faction wants isolation from the world, to only exist within their vale.  The second most powerful faction wants to re-establish communication and trade with the outside world.  A third, and by far the smallest faction, wants to not only re-establish communication and trade, but to seize power in the vacuum of the old Empire.

DANGER TO TRAVELERS: High.  Travelling overland to the Kingdom involves walking through near trackless forests even after leaving the Great Western Forest.  After that, travelers have to deal with the subtle compulsions to turn away, followed by auras of irrational fear pushing them to flee the area.  Finally, a magical ward of vines keeps the inside area of the previous wards clear of travelers, some with simply being overgrown, but others with a more carnivorous bent.  Within these three wards are the Scouts, highly trained rangers that keep to the trees and capture or kill any who enter past the wards without a writ of invitation from the Crown.  

Travelling through the secret paths has its own danger.  The paths are not marked, and are very resistant to being marked permanently.  While the paths all lead to gateways that will deposit travelers back into the physical world, not all of them are under Elven control any more.  At least one exists within the hands of the Thieves Guild, a demesne known as Duskhaven on the eastern edge of the Great Western Forest.  At least one other is known to open into the lair of a great dragon, and at least one other opens near a goblin controlled fortress.  The ones that open up within Aida are guarded by Elven knights who will capture any who exit without a writ of passage from the crown.

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Monarchy, with a semi-feudal system of nobility beneath the Crown.  (Will flesh out later)

FREEDOM AND OPPRESSION: The citizens within the Kingdom have a fairly high amount of freedom.  There is plenty of sustenance, and many activities to do within the Kingdom.  Citizens are also free to leave the Kingdom at their leisure.  Those coming into the Kingdom without a writ of passage from the Crown are often captured and interrogated.  Here still, there is a great amount of freedom.  Though captive, there are no true cells within the kingdom, and captives are held in small suites and given almost any amenity they desire.  They are carefully interviewed and screened by mages and investigators before allowed the freedom of the Kingdom.  Once they make it that far, however, they are treated as citizens under the law.

The only thing that is truly oppressed within the Kingdom is the ability to communicate and trade with the outside world.  Only those trusted by the crown are given writs of passage and allowed to travel the warded woods or secret paths at will.

COMMON SPECIES: Elves are by far the most common species, subsets of which are the High Elves that mostly populate the cities and the Library at Daneith, Wood Elves that live closer to nature and make up a portion of the Scouts and Knights, and the Wild Elves that make up the majority of the Scouts and possess unparalleled skill with the natural world and natural magic.  There are a few hundred humans that live within the borders, these tend to be either woodsmen whose families have lived here for centuries or travelers that have been given citizen status.  Half-elves tend to crop up in large amounts due to the closeness of Human and Elven populations.  Gnomes, Halflings, Centaur, Unicorns, Griffons, and Dragons all also hold small enclaves, in descending order of population.  Dwarves are relatively unheard of, only a handful have traveled the secret paths into the Kingdom, and most choose to leave as quickly as possible.

MILITARY FOCUS: The Military of the Kingdom of Aida is threefold.  The Library at Daneith trains well rounded mages, some of whom graduate and take on military service for the Crown.  The next largest is the Knights, who guard the Crown family, the Aiudari Gateways, and hold a medium sized active army.  The largest set by far are the Scouts.  The Scouts patrol the Warded Woods and the Secret paths at the behest of the Crown.  While the largest portion of the military, it is also the toughest organization to gain entrance to, as the level of skill required is remarkably high, as is the level of trust.  All Scouts have a Writ of Passage from the Crown, whereas only a few Knights and Mages have such.

TECHNOLOGY: Early Renaissance level technology.

PLAYER CONTROLLED: Yes, though I welcome collaboration.