Name of your Sovereign: Fyrdottr Sykka
Name of your Nation: Var Caedwys (Literal translation: Place Cursed, better translation: Home [of the] Cursed)
Fluff: Var Caedwys, to the indolent noble, is a land of mystery depicted in the romances as a dark wonderland icy pillars, mysterious lights that dance within the sky. To the common man, it is a place where men are rumored to become beasts, and women perform blood sacrifice on moonless nights to appease their dark gods. To the merchant, Var Caedwys is a frustrating land that is simultaneously filled with good iron, valuable dyes, and crazy people.
Var Caedwys, far to the north of Graņif, is a cold, dark, and fundamentally savage place. Its farmland is poor, with the land coming in three flavors: rocky soil barely fit for potatoes, cold water marsh capable of growing the ice-dyes and snow 'peppers' but precious little food, and mountains that only grow ice shelves.
Due top this, Caedwyn diet consists of dried meat, potatoes, salt, and the small, cherry like, spicy vegetables harvested from their marsh farms. Owing to the general lack of flavor in the diet besides 'salty' and 'hot', as well as their religious fascination with suffering, Caedwyn food is so spicy as to be nearly inedible to foreigners.
To the outside world, Var Caedwys a source of spicy peppers, dye, and iron. Products which are the product of back-breaking labor, and yet produced with zeal by the Caedwyn people. Var Caedwys is ever seeking to expand, and frequently seeks both to buy good lumber and grain from their southern cousins in order to fuel their expansion.
Caedwyn people are pale skinned, dark of hair, and have an absurdly high (>99%) prevalence of firemarks (also known as wine-stain birthmarks) in their progeny. These marks typically cover most of the face, hands, and belly. Foreigners sometimes mistakes these marks as evidence of some kind of disease (such as leprosy), but to the Caedwyn these marks are proof of The Curse.
Var Caedwys is ruled by theocracy, and their religion is built entirely around their belief in The Curse. The Caedwyn people believe that there is an infinite force that created all that is from nothing. The Caedwyn take the concept of infinite to extremes and believe that, because this force is infinite, it must both love and hate infinitely, simultaneously. In order to prevent the world from being destroyed in the primordial chaos of those conflicting infinites, the Caedwyn willingly accept the curse of God's hate upon themselves, and upon themselves alone.
The Caedwyn Theocracy, the Keepers of the Curse (Kriek Caedwal, or, more simply, the Kriek) encourages ritual scarification, self mutilation, and ritual torture killing- as long as the victim is willing and bears the marks of The Curse. Willing human sacrifice is a monthly occurrence, and the Caedwyn firmly and zealously believe that the only reason that there is any good left in the world is because of their personal suffering. Caedwyn infantry are nearly suicidal, and have a reputation for running up lances and continuing to fight with injuries that would fell other men. It is ridiculously difficult to demoralize a citizen of Var Caedwys. All-Powerful God hates them personally, and any suffering they endure is deserved and serves to preserve the entire world.
The Fyrdottr, always female, is one half of the head of the Kriek church, and overseas the material matters of the kingdom. Tortured for a full month before assuming the position, she is severed from all family ties, and is allowed only minimal possessions. However, in order that she might be healthy enough to govern, she is allowed exemption from the normal torture enjoyed by most ranking members of the Kriek. Her foremost duty is to expand the size of Var Caedwys. After all, the more Caedwyn there are, the safer the rest of the world is from The Curse.
Focus: Happiness
Was going to go magic, but someone else grabbed that.
Author
Topic: Against the Gods (OOC) (10/8) (Read 8623 times)