Pelusia
Once a powerful mining nation governed by a heritary Prince, the nation of Pelusia was enslaved by the slave armies of Lun Dorak during the Mage War. The Mages of Lun Dorak did not honor the treaties with the dwarves that the Pelusians had established with the dwarves of the Divian Mountains. After a few minor skirmishes, the dwarves responded by declaring the Mages of Lun Dorak in violation of the Treaty of Gundagor and rose to attack. The local church of Baelthor, long the predominant religion among the people of Pelusia, joined forces with the dwarves and the people rose in revolt. Many scholars believe that the revolution in Pelusia is one of the factors that allowed Koramia and her allies to finally defeat the Mage-King.
During the Dark Times, Pelusia suffered the same depredations as other cultures, but the dwarven troops of the region remained in the area to support the Prince and local governments through the chaos. The stability the dwarves brought endeared them to the people of Pelusia and they quickly integrated into Pelusian society. At the dawn of the Fourth Age of Man, Pelusia stands as a unified nation of dwarves and humans with more material resources than anywhere else in Duria.
| Pelusia |
| The Principality of Pelusia |
| Geographic Info |
| Continent: Duria |
| Location: On the Pelusan Peninsula on the western shores of the Sea of Blades. |
| Government |
| Government Type: Monarchy (Prince, Earl, Count, Thegn, Laird) |
| Ruler: Prince Athos Regara (Nob 9, Ex 7) |
| Arms: Per chevron bleu-celeste and purpure, to chief two mullets of six points argent, a lozenge or, to base a lozenge argent, to dexter base a lozenge gules, to sinister base a lozenge azure |
| Coinage: 1 penny (1 cp) = 4 farthings; 1 shilling (1 sp) = 10 pence (pennies); 1 crown (1 ep) = 5 shillings; 1 pound (1 gp) = 4 crowns; 1 mark (1 pp) = 10 pounds |
| Capital: Balderstein (pop 75,500) |
| Alliances: Koramia, Medea, Illyria |
| Hostilities: Nagos |
| Society |
| Population: 905,246 (88% human, 9% dwarven, 1% half-elven, 1% hobbit, 1% other) |
| Languages: Pelusian |
| Important Persons: The heads of various Mining Houses, the Episcopus of Baelthor and several important churchmen of Baelthor, a handful of Noble Houses |
| Religious Info |
| Pantheon: Imperial |
| Patron: None |
History
Pelusia's modern history can be traced back to 116 B.I., when the Zetian Count of the Tracini Shore attacked and took the nation at the request of the Tracini peoples, who had, by this time, become the clients of the Count. The people of that time were stalwart and independent minded, and had an uneasy truce with the Dwarves of the mountains, which detailed precisely which mountains and which veins could be mined and which could not. The Imperial occupiers of Pelusia, of course, did not recognize these treaties, and war quickly erupted between the Imperial forces and the Dwarves of the Divian mountains. Fighting continued well into the Imperial Age, and only began to wane somewhere around 154 I.C. During this time, the people of Pelusia, often used as fodder by the Imperial armies, were decimated, and the nation became something of a retirement community for Imperial soldiers after quelling rebellions elsewhere in the northern territories of the Empire. Most of the soldiers who chose to settle in this harsh land were themselves from the Antasian Mountains in the Empire, many from the subservient nations of Medalia, Cordosia and Milosia. Eventually, as Imperial control began to wane in the area, the Pelusians began to assert their independence until, in 520 I.C., the first King of Pelusia was crowned by a consortium of Mining Houses in the area. It was, strangely, the last of the northern territories, excepting the See of Cambrecia, to assert its independence from the Empire, when, in fact, it had been effectively independent for two centuries before the crowning of its first King.
The next few centuries saw a great deal of prosperity in the Kingdom of Pelusia, as they began to trade with the surrounding petty kingdoms that formerly composed Koramia. Unfortunately, their good fortune gained them a powerful enemy in the form of the Kingdom of Norlund. Coveting the seemingly endless wealth of the Divian Mountains of Pelusia, they began first stealing secretly, then brought about an all-out campaign of conquest against the Pelusians. The Norlunders, however, unaccustomed to the climate and terrain, had little chance in fully conquering the Pelusians. These wars, which lasted some fifty years before a treaty was finally signed in 854 I.C., took their toll on the Pelusians, however. In a bloody coup soon after the signing of the treaty, the Mining Houses took control of the nation, creating a plutocratic form of government, where every ten years, the individual or family which could prove the most wealth could select a ruler for the next decade. This system of government lasted a mere 25 years before the strife and in-fighting amongst the Mining Houses caused a civil war within the nation. Pelusia fell to chaos for the next century, as Mining Houses placed figurehead after figurehead in the ruling seat, only to have him slaughtered by an enemy House soon thereafter.
Finally, in 930 I.C., the monarchy was reestablished by the Gantul family through superior military might, and the head of that family, one Tartos Gantul, crowned himself the Prince of Pelusia. The Mining Houses, no longer able to support a protracted civil war, relented. The Principality of Pelusia has existed to this day, though the Mining Houses have again become powerful enough to threaten the power of the Prince and the hereditary nobility that support him.
Economy
Pelusia is primarily a mountainous nation, ill-equipped for agriculture. Most of the foodstuffs that the nation requires come through trade with Medea and, to some small degree, Enesia. Its tall mountains, however, provide the nation with a wealth of rich ores, including gold, silver, rubies, and sapphires. The Dwarves have provided little trouble for the Mining Houses in the last century, though their raids are becoming more and more bold as the Mining Houses attempt to also fend off the orcish, ogrish, and human bandits forced into the Divian mountains by the Koramian Conquest. The naval fleet of the merchants is rivaled only by the Nagosian fleets in the Sea of Swords, though they are usually not nearly as well-armed or manned as the Nagosian pirates who raid them for their ores. Many Mining Houses support an all-out war of conquest against Nagos, to open up trade routes to the Maroshan Sea, but the Prince and nobility oppose such action as contrary to the economic health of the nation.
Religion
The worship of Baelthor is predominant in Pelusia, with the worship of Mulciber a close second. The worship of Minos has begun to take hold on some of the coastal cities, amongst the merchant class, and Ladon is encouraged amongst the actual workers of the mines. The worship of Vortumnus has never been particularly strong in Pelusia, though Pelusia's treaty of sovereignty with Koramia has permitted an Archbishop of the Koramic worshippers to be installed in Baldenstein. The Archbishop, however, has found it difficult to find converts to his knight-religion amongst the mountainfolk and miners. Religious freedom is fairly prevalent in Pelusia, excepting those who worship the Dagonian deities. Those found worshipping Enosigaois or Bellona are painfully executed by both religious and secular authorities, however, and state-supported Inquisitions against such worship occur every decade or so.
| This page has been identified as needing a map for clarity. |
| This is a thumbnail description and is scheduled for expansion at a later date. |
| This page has been identified as needing a map for clarity. |
| This article is part of the Player's Guide to Duria | |
|
Introduction · Economics and Trade · Legends and History · Religion · Regions and Realms | |
| Regions and Realms on Duria | |
