Kingdom name: Kingdom of Melich.
Succession law: absolute primogeniture.
Prosperity: economically prosperous, token standing army, highly decentralized. Large, if ill-prepared, levies.
Size: greater regional power, large landed high nobility and clergy (Dukes, Archbishops, Counts).
Title names: standard English ranks.
Currency Name: Crown (a parcel's worth of goods), Ducat (a fine warhorse), Melich (a healthy chicken). Lesser transaction are not supported by coinage. Most serfs trade in goods, rather than currency.
While Melich's might is far from hegemonic, like many of its neighbors, and in spite of the Crown's tenuous hold over the bloated nobility, the realm is much too culturally unified and solidified in tradition to risk complete annexation by foreigners. Indeed, not only is the land thus developed that the Kingdom is quite prosperous, the lack of a powerful standing army is of little consequence to the realm's ability to defend itself, for if so inclined, the large territory could easily provide the levies through which to stand against its enemies. Internal upheaval is much greater a threat than any foreigner, for not only do the nobles wage war against each other at their beck and whim, the court has long since become a place of high conspiracies and illusory decorum, where the Monarch is merely a figurehead, historically maintaining the position merely at the benefit of a few powerful Dukes, and through the support of a handful of loyal Barons and retainers.
It is well possible that a Lord's demesne coming under assault may he met with utter indifference by their peers, for as long as they do not feel, themselves, threatened, the Kingdom's integrity is of little consequence to them, barring personal agreements and age-old pacts that may, yet still, be broken at the earliest convenience of the mighty and affluent. It is this scenario that poses the Realm's ancient dilemma, and drives the ambitions of the nobility and sovereign alike: in the greatly diminished Crown lands and Capital stands a puppet Monarch, juggling their position in the nobility' esteem, with varying degrees of failure, whether struggling to increase the Crown's influence or merely seeking to keep their heads atop their neck for another day; in the countryside and the realm's vast stretches of land, a precarious balance maintains the Kingdom's stability, the greater nobility merely contained by their own peers' schemes, as nobility and clergy alike struggle for legitimacy, seeking to gain claims on their rivals and accrue sufficient support to act on them.
The future is uncertain, and the Kingdom stands at a crossroads: whether Melich will fall by foreign hands, too weakened by its own device to stop the hungry vultures circling it; whether a high noble will subdue their peers and through alliances and fire depose the pretext of the present royal family, ascending themselves to the coveted title, but in a much better position; whether the Monarch might, nigh-miraculously, restore power to a crippled Crown and shackle the powerful nobles who have the run of the country; whether the mystical or the upstart might gain an unexpected foothold, and supplant the present status quo with their own. Regardless of the result, history is to be made, and it is for you to take on your role in it.
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Topic: You are King: New Realms: OOC Thread (Read 14394 times)