Difference between revisions of "Arangoth"

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The three major ritual events in a person's life are generally the brakerrat or rite-of-passage ceremony at age thirteen; the marriage ceremony; and the funerary rites. Each of these has a customary form in Arangoth: for example, the Arangothian wedding generally takes place at home, and the participants wear green. There are also number of popular song and dance genres in Arangoth, as well as music of the royal court. For the past seventy years or so, one of the most popular genres has been the leturek.
The three major ritual events in a person's life are generally the brakerrat or rite-of-passage ceremony at age thirteen; the marriage ceremony; and the funerary rites. Each of these has a customary form in Arangoth: for example, the Arangothian wedding generally takes place at home, and the participants wear green. There are also number of popular song and dance genres in Arangoth, as well as music of the royal court. For the past seventy years or so, one of the most popular genres has been the leturek.


he most common religion among native Arangothians recognizes two supreme dualistic powers, Menxvan and Menxruk. The Royal Church in Drache, with Father Kylus Dragonsbane at its head, is by contrast open to many faiths, though Father Kylus himself follows a deity known in Arangoth as Pallodain. An extreme Menxvanic sect which has recently had some impact is the Cult of the Silver Flame, strongly opposed to magic-use.  
The most common religion among native Arangothians recognizes two supreme dualistic powers, Menxvan and Menxruk. The Royal Church in Drache, with Father Kylus Dragonsbane at its head, is by contrast open to many faiths, though Father Kylus himself follows a deity known in Arangoth as Pallodain. An extreme Menxvanic sect which has recently had some impact is the Cult of the Silver Flame, strongly opposed to magic-use.  


Grubball is the national sport of Arangoth, with a professional league of 16 teams from around the country and from foreign lands.
Grubball is the national sport of Arangoth, with a professional league of 16 teams from around the country and from foreign lands.
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Revision as of 10:06, 15 August 2012

The Kingdom of Arangoth
Location The Midlands
Capital Drache
Population 250,000 (approx)
Established ~1 AT
Currency Bank Crown
Government Monarchy
Head Of State King Arlok ul-Dorn

Arlok ul-Dorn Gossath ul Arangoth

Religion Menxvanism

The Kingdom of Arangoth (Arangair ul Arangoth) is a large sovereign state located in the The Midlands of the main continent, known also as Veth. The kingdom spans as far north Song Deep, east to the Dragonspine Mountains and Elgaria, as far west as Arania. It's southern coast includes Goat and Shell Island, ending at the Southland Penninsula and Assi tribal lands.

Arangoth has a long and colorful history. The Kingdom of Arangoth was first founded nearly five centuries before the present, but civil war half a century ago led to the collapse of the Old Kingdom and the flight of the royal family. Alysia "AngelSin" returned from exile in 465 and was proclaimed queen, but left the kingdom in 467. Prince Arlok ul-Dorn was proclaimed King in Northern Arangoth in 469, then later King of All Arangoth after the reconciliation of Arlok and the Regency Council.

The City of Drache has served as the kingdom's de facto captial since Queen Alysia's arrival to the city in 465.

History

Main Article: History of Arangoth

Arangothians are ethnically a mixture of the native Goxal and the invading Igmerind people who founded several sitharangel or grand duchies here a few hundred years ago. In the year 1, the sithire or grand duke of Northern Arangoth founded the city of Tagrana, which is considered to mark the founding of the Kingdom of Arangoth. Tagran, the first king, was originally considered only the first among equals. However, about the year 130, a conflict among the lesser sithirel led to the extinction of the major families, and the King became yet more powerful by virtue of his ability to appoint provincial leaders. Around 300, when Arangoth was embroiled in a war with the Assi, the Order of the Beady Eye offered its services to the monarchy, assured Arangothian victories there and elsewhere, and became increasingly powerful on the frontiers of the Kingdom.

King Aladar took as his second wife Rosebud, the daughter of an Eastern Arangothian witch. When her true nature was revealed, it became necessary for an impostor named Tsetsa to impersonate the Queen in public. Dissatisfied with this role, Tsetsa convinced the Khalar ambassador Helehkri that Arangoth was planning to invade its northern neighbor. This led to a bloody and needless war beginning in the year 384, a war which, however, Arangoth won handily. The Khalar surrendered and turned over to Arangoth their most prized possession, the Siren Stone, which caused a number of problems in and of itself.

King Dorn sent his three sons Arlok, Oryan, and Ware out into the far provinces so that they could learn at first hand how to govern. There the princes discovered that the Order of the Beady Eye had long been abusing their powerful position on the frontier. King Dorn vowed to oust the corrupt Order from power; the Order in turn gathered its forces to resist. About the same time, Prince Arlok and his fiancee Melinxa Swanneck turned hungry wolves on a group of girls of noble birth who were conspiring to murder an innocent peasant; this was the infamous Slaughter in the Maze. As a result, both the Order of the Beady Eye and a large part of the Arangothian nobility rose up and, in an attack upon Tagrana in the year 415, murdered King Dorn as his three sons fled from the destruction of the city. For the next fifty years there was no monarchy in Arangoth.

The Raven disappeared never to return, but his stead a Council of Nobles arose. From the North, Arolk returned to Southern Arangoth. After months of tension the nation was at peace once more under King Arlok ul-Dorn and the provincial government of the Regency Council. An Aslari-Ellurian war was settled only when armies from across the sea intervened.

Government

Arangoth was originally a confederacy of Grand Duchies before Tagran became the first king of Arangoth. Sithirel, or Dukes, have been the traditional rulers of the various Arangothian provinces for centuries. AngelSin and BlkDragon did not follow this tradition, preferring to rule directly from Castle Black. After their abdication, The Raven took over as Regent, though he too soon disappeared. A Regency Council rose to take on the mantle of government in the year 469, until it was disbanded late in the year 473. King Arlok has restored the traditional forms of government and appointed a new Sithire to govern the South on his behalf.

When Queen Alysia (called AngelSin) and her consort, King BlkDragon, established their new capital in Drache in the year 465, they ruled it directly from Castle Black for a small number of years. They governed more and more of Arangoth, as word of Dorn's Blood returning to Arangoth spread throughout the shattered kingdom and fiefs flocked to her banner. But the King and Queen never lost their humility, and familiarity with their people, best illustrated in their steadfast devotion to the King's Inn in ever-growing Drache. They were succeeded, after leaving for mysterious reasons, by their counsellor, the arch-mage known as The Raven. Though wise and powerful, the Regent was also reclusive and by all accounts spent most of his time in the towers of Castle Black. The time came when he inexplicably disappeared altogether, leaving the running of the country to its bureaucrats and local lords. It was later revealed that he was combatting unseen threats to Arangoth, though he has not explained the nature of the matters that keep him occupied even to the present day.

When Drache was faced with myriad disasters in the year 469, several prominent nobles rose up to fill the vacuum. Lady Lorla Daranek called together a Council to take the reigns of the Regency in Evening Star (December) of 469. They named an empty seat for The Raven, should he choose to return and began to tackle Drache’s problems. Their chosen symbol was a fatted goose and sheaf of wheat in an unbroken circle, for plenty and concord.

Simultaneously, Arlok ul-Dorn, the Prince of Old Arangoth, awakened from an enchanted sleep of fifty years in Outer Arangoth and returned home. After a series of misunderstandings and tests, he was declared King in Northern Arangoth, the northern Diet never having been keen on The Raven, a foreigner, and preferring the King to the Council. Soon it came to light that still-missing Queen Alysia had abdicated some years ago, and the Council negotiated Arlok's becoming King of all Arangoth in 470. The Council remained in provincial control of the southern provinces.

After a powerful controversy begat a political uprising in Drache, the Council was disbanded in 473 and one of its last members, Lord Marcion Aldenbar, named Lord Chancellor. He was also directed by His Majesty to find a new Sithire, or Duke, to rule the South, in a more traditional form of Arangothian government.

See also: Arangothian Monarchy

Culture & Lifestyle

Arangoth has several distinctive cultural features, including a language, a native religion, a musical tradition, and a calendar to mark the years and holidays. You can also read about the Templars of Menxvan, one of the few insitutions in the country to have a presence in the North and the South.

The Arangothian calendar closely mirrors that used in the "real world." The Arangothian year 470 = AD 2000, and indicates that 470 years have passed since the founding of the city of Tagrana (which marked the origin of the Kingdom of Arangoth). The months and days of the week have Arangothian names, and there are a number of Arangothian holidays.

The three major ritual events in a person's life are generally the brakerrat or rite-of-passage ceremony at age thirteen; the marriage ceremony; and the funerary rites. Each of these has a customary form in Arangoth: for example, the Arangothian wedding generally takes place at home, and the participants wear green. There are also number of popular song and dance genres in Arangoth, as well as music of the royal court. For the past seventy years or so, one of the most popular genres has been the leturek.

The most common religion among native Arangothians recognizes two supreme dualistic powers, Menxvan and Menxruk. The Royal Church in Drache, with Father Kylus Dragonsbane at its head, is by contrast open to many faiths, though Father Kylus himself follows a deity known in Arangoth as Pallodain. An extreme Menxvanic sect which has recently had some impact is the Cult of the Silver Flame, strongly opposed to magic-use.

Grubball is the national sport of Arangoth, with a professional league of 16 teams from around the country and from foreign lands.