Oridal

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Oridal
The Syndicracy of Oridal
Geographic Info
Continent: Gallorea
Location: Along the eastern shore of the continent of Gallorea.
Government
Government Type: Representative Syndicracy (High Guildmaster, Guildmaster, Syndic, Chancellor).
Ruler: The Vestry
Arms: A green field with a white rose surrounded by seven gold coins.
Coinage: 2 Ha'pennies = 1 Penny (1 cp); 50 Pennies = 1 Argent (1sp), 50 Argents = 1 Sword (1 ep); 5 Swords = 1 Crown (1 gp); 100 Crowns = 1 Dragon (1 Pp)
Capital: Minaran (pop 158,460)
Alliances: Trade agreements with Adanar, Haleland, Halgard, Hartland, Kuroshka, Nadera, Narisia, Roncal and Valduran. No military alliances.
Hostilities: None
Society
Population: 2,458,000 (87% human, 8% hobbit, 3% half-orc, 2% other)
Languages: Halic
Important Persons: Anselm Onesto, High Guildmaster of the Teamster's Guild (Ari 12/Exp 6); Rumbald Hermenfred, High Guildmaster of the Vinter's Guild (Nob 10); Godelina Chagamund, High Guildmistress of the Guild of Tailors and Seamstresses (Ari/Exp 5/12); Withric Onesto, High Spiritmonger of Minar (Cle 18).
Religious Info
Pantheon: Aebasan
Patron: Minar


History

The nation now known as Oridal was originally part of the Kingdom of Dregnost and attained their independence from that faltering Kingdom in 7516 A.C., some thirty-odd years after the successful rebellion of Haleland from that same Kingdom. Without a strong noble tradition and no real contender for royalty, the leaders of their rebellion established a Council of Freemen intended to generate a legal code and justify one of their number being proclaimed to a Royal Seat. Unfortunately, after the threat of the Dregnosti soldiers had gone, the Council fell to infighting and political maneuvering as each member tried to carve out his own power. During this time, no real legal code was created and lawlessness was common. Haleland, which had unified without difficulty under the banner of Vortumnus and Virtus, often found itself the subject of raids from these lawless sorts. Oridal seemed destined to become a lawless frontier for Haleland and the dying Dregnosti.

In 7598 A.C., several members of the Council traveled to speak with the Halic King, Ilyard Breno, about the future of Oridal. King Ilyard, who was trying to build an army to use against the Gray Lord in Adanar, agreed to take on Oridal as a client state, organizing its militia and providing a legal code. Under this agreement, the Council of Freemen would collectively have the power of a Grand Duke, though the only responsibility they had to the Halic King was to provide military support when requested.

The ambassadors returned to Oridal and informed the rest of the Council about the treaty, expecting a warm reception. While several members of the Council did agree with the treaty others, particularly the barons of the northern territories, refused to agree to the treaty. They fled back to their holdings and prepared for war against the barons of the south. King Ilyard, who was gathering troops for his quest into Adanar, tried to negotiate a settlement, but the northern barons refused and bloody civil war erupted. The Pale War, as it was called after the name the northern barons gave themselves, lasted only five years. In an uncharacteristic moment of anger, King Ilyard led his troops into the northern regions in 7602 A.C., bringing it under direct military control and imprisoning the northern barons in their own homes. With the northern barons effectively contained, Ilyard finally began the long march south in 7605 A.C., which would result in the final defeat of the Grey Lord the following year. Within a decade, the Council of Freemen disbanded, nominating one of their membership, Ragnald Ynesto, as a true Grand Duke. The Halic King agreed and Oridal was officially brought under the auspices of the Halic Crown.

Though Oridal was loyal to the Halic Crown, the people were not Halic. The Halic Church of Vortumnus began constructing temples in the region and tried to convert the native populous, but only met with limited success. The people of Oridal came to resent the proselytizing priesthood, much to the confusion of the priesthood and the Halic Crown alike. The unrest was not severe or violent, but it provided the unrest needed for another Church to make inroads into the nation. In 7682 A.C., Thrasyllus of Minar began to quietly convert the merchant class of Oridal to the worship of Minar, God of Commerce. It is likely that he intended to convert the entire nation to insure the inexpensive transfer of goods to the coast and then north into his native Aebasa, but Vortumnus and Virtus were solidly entrenched in the rest of Haleland. In Oridal, however, the populous began to flock to the Coingod, particularly after Thrasyllus established a lucrative trade agreement for luxuries from Kesh through Roncal. Interest in Vortumnus waned and the now powerful merchant lords chaffed under the rulership of the Halic King, who came to be viewed more and more as a foreigner. When King Otto Destain "the Mad" ordered the execution of Coenrad Bastida, Grand Duke of Halgard, for treason in 7708 A.C., Oridal quickly sided with Halgard and prepared for civil war.

Fortunately, King Otto fell to illness in the winter of 7708-9 and the Halic Rebellion was fought in only one battle. The young, newly crowned King Absalan Varuna, a distant cousin of the childless King, was defeated by Grand Duke Coenrad in single combat at the Battle of Two Swords. King Absalan, who had been opposed to his cousin's order to execute Coenrad, crowned his former enemy the first King of Halgard there on the battlefield. Granting independence to Oridal, as well, was almost a side effect of Halgard's success.

With Oridal newly independent, Grand Duke Ragnald III Ynesto tried to set up the region as his own personal kingdom, but his plans for ascension were strongly opposed by the Church of Minar. Without the support of the Guilds, who were influenced by the Church, the Grand Duke was unable to field a sizable opposition to the Church and acceded to meeting with Church officials to work out a new legal code. When the Church officials arrived at his castle, however, the Grand Duke had them imprisoned for treason and called for all remaining church officials to declare their loyalty to him as King of Oridal. It was then that the Guilds erupted in rebellion against the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke was economically besieged for the last six months of 7710 A.C. He finally agreed to meet with Church officials in good faith, but the Guilds would have none of it. In the Onesta Rebellion (named after the capital city at that time), the Guilds hired several small mercenary companies to besiege the Grand Duke's castle. The Grand Duke would not meet the Guild mercenaries on the field of battle and his castle was high impenetrable. After a year-long siege, the mercenaries were hired as long-term guards to insure that the Grand Duke could not leave his castle. The Tower Guard, as they came to be known, slowly altered from a besieging force into a group of guards…Onesta Castle became the Grand Duke's prison for the rest of his life.

During the siege of Onesta Castle, many of the Guilds began to meet to discuss the day-to-day affairs of the newly re-formed nation. They worked out a few laws here and there, appointed judges to adjudicate crimes and began to dismantle the hereditary noble structure under which Oridal was organized. Guildmaster Palamon Malohaut, of the Guild of Masons and Stonecutters, realized that, if their rebellion were to succeed, there would need to be an entirely new way of governing conceived. In the now-famous Vestry Meetings (which took place in the vestry of the Grand Emporium in Onesta), Guildmaster Palamon proposed a decentralized arrangement where each town of a certain size would have a single Chancellor, elected from the Guildmen in good standing who lived in the region and who would be responsible for the day-to-day operations of his region. Furthermore, he added, a central government would have to be formed to handle international affairs and make laws for the nation as a whole. Originally called the Congress of Minar, this legislative body was designed along Guild lines, with a single Syndic being selected from within a Guild to represent that Guild in governmental concerns. Originally, this Congress was composed only of Guildmen who lived in Onesta, which was renamed Minaran, but began to expand to include other major cities as well. The Congress grew very quickly and began to fold under its own weight.

In 7732 A.C., the now-aged Guildmaster Palamon proposed a solution. Each type of Guild would be organized into a national "super-Guild", each the responsibility of one High Guildmaster and each sending only one Syndic to represent them in the Congress (which had become colloquially known as the Vestry by this point, even though it had long outgrown its chambers in the Grand Emporium). Originally, each Syndic received one vote in the Vestry, but in the All Fairness Act of 7796 A.C., each Syndic was given voting power based upon the number of full members within his Guild. The wealthier Guilds soon realized that this decreased their power within the Vestry and in 7815 A.C. the All Fairness Act was altered to adjust for Guild revenues as well. The voting system became so complicated that the Office of Voting Power was created, headed by its own Chancellor. There are currently 289 Syndics in the Vestry as well as an additional 27 associate Syndics (from Guilds who's request to separate from their parent organization is pending).

Oridal today is a powerful economic and political force in the region, but it proclaims a certain level of neutrality in international affairs. It is tentatively allied with Haleland, Halgard, Adanar and Valduran against Thet, but as it does not have a standing army, their support is mostly monetary in nature. Foreign leaders are often frustrated with the mystifying bureaucracy of the nation and, as there is no one individual responsible for international affairs, usually do not bother conducting state visits.

Despite its lack of a standing army, Oridal has one of the most thorough Watch systems in the region. Theft is actually legal in Oridal, assuming you are a member of the public Thieves' Guilds, but the guard is responsible for investigating any non-Guild theft as well as more serious crimes, such as treason (which is rare…it is difficult to betray a nation when there is no one person to betray) and murder. The Tower Watch, whose duties slowly expanded to cover maintaining order with the towns of the nation, is a highly organized law-enforcement agency that has even been known to violate international borders to capture their prey.

One of the more unique features of Oridal is the Iron Wall, which spans most of the nation's border with the Pale Marches. The Iron Wall is a system of fortifications linked by a 50' thick stone wall intended to keep the raiders and criminals of the Pale Marches from affecting business within Oridal. The first stones were laid in 7852 A.C. and construction is still ongoing. Designers expect the Wall to be finished by 7900, but refuse to sign a contract ensuring that. The Guild of Mercenaries and Engineers is responsible for manning the Wall and its upkeep and represents the closest thing Oridal has to a standing army. There has been recent discussion concerning another Wall to be constructed along the Wraithwood, but most think that mere stone isn't enough to keep back the periodic spirit that wanders out of that haunted wood.

Economy

The economy of Oridal is based almost entirely on trade and services. Though there are some cottage industries that export hand-crafted goods, most of the items exported and imported are intended for sale elsewhere. Even foodstuffs are imported from Haleland and is has been posited by philosophers that should even one of its neighbors cease selling goods to Oridal it would most like fall very quickly to poverty. The Guildmen of Oridal, of course, scoff at such a suggestion.

Religion

The worship of Minar is predominant in the region, though there are no existing laws against the worship of any deity (except, of course, Phlegethon, god of Tyranny). Vortumnus, god of chivalry, still has some support in the northwest and Virtus, god of courage, has quite a following along the southwestern border with Halgard. It should be noted that it is traditional for each Guild to patron itself to a particular church (usually Minar, but exceptions are commonplace) or a patron saint. The Spiritual Advisor of each Guild often has almost as much power as the Guildmaster himself in setting policy for that Guild.

This page has been identified as needing a map for clarity.
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