Yurand

The Twin Isles of Yurand!  Home to the Dual Monarchy!  The land of noble skyknights, where armor is fancifully decorated in the shape of beasts.  Yurand is made up of two islands, whose Drift pattern forms a rough circle, with Outer Yurand to the south and curving around to the east and west of Inner Yurand.  Inner Yurand is larger and flatter, mostly wide plains with scattered woodlands and prairie, but Outer Yurand is more defensible and, due to Yurand's Drift pattern, constantly facing towards most of the islands it comes close to during its cycle.  Outer Yurand is shaped almost like a bowl, with high, craggy, cave-wormed mountains (The Necklace) surrounding dense forests and bogs, the former forming the great forest known as the Yurwood.  The symbol of Yurand is a field divided vertically, red on the left and white on the right, with two lions rampant facing each other, a white lion on the left and a red lion on the right.  Traditionally, the actual lines of the face are only detailed for the lion the bearer serves.  The White Lion is for Outer Yurand and the Queen.  The Red Lion is for Inner Yurand and the King.

Yurand was founded as a colony of Magot, but gained their independence due to having a ton of resources compared to the relatively impoverished Magot, which conquered vast territories, overstretched itself, and was finally unable to police its own lands.  Magot's empire collapsed, and they endured as a bitter, prideful land until one Goldenmorn, when Magot arrived at the nadir of its cycle completely overrun by vampires.

The Dual Monarchy: Originally, Yurand had only one ruler, who passed down the crown to their eldest child regardless of sex.  This came to an abrupt end when twins were born to the Queen of All Yurand some two hundred odd years ago.  Both of the so-called Young Lions, a boy and a girl, were charismatic, talented, competent visionaries who nearly destroyed the kingdom when their competing views and disagreement over who should assume the crown led to all-out war.  The prince held sway on Inner Yurand, while the princess and her retainers had less support but the advantage of legitimacy as the princess had been born a few seconds ahead of the prince, and were forced to dig in on Outer Yurand. Although the Lion War lasted for many years, Outer Yurand lacked the soldiers and food needed to invade Inner Yurand, and Inner Yurand couldn't penetrate the Yurwood or the mountain ranges. Eventually, peace was reached, and the former heraldry of Yurand was replaced with the dancing lions.  Always there would be a king and queen in Yurand, although never married together, and never permitted to mix their bloodlines.  Over time, the two monarchs have assumed roles unique to them in their joint overall governance of Yurand.  The King is responsible for many domestic affairs, with wide authority as an enforcer of the law to hunt criminals and traitors, as well as managing the vast grain reserves of Inner Yurand, among others.  The Queen controls Yurand's sunship production, as the vast majority of Yurand's sunships dock in the mountain berths surrounding Outer Yurand, and is also more responsible for trade and diplomacy with other nations.  From there, the system becomes feudal, with both royal lines parceling out land in the form of fiefs to the nobility.


Dueling: Duels are a common way to settle disputes that cannot be resolved without blood.  Typically, swords are used.  Other weapons can be requested, but it's seen as very, very gauche to challenge an adversary to a duel in which you would have a clear advantage.  Duels are typically to first blood, unless specified otherwise.  Anyone who can afford a champion has the right to request trial by combat, as well, appointing a champion to fight their opponent's champion in civil disputes, or the judicial champion if the charges were brought by the state/territory/town.  Both champions must be approved by the judge.  On Outer Yurand, the law is that a champion must be a knight and must be approved farther ahead of time...no sneaking some giant seven-foot Pebble Tribesman in at the last moment.  The more fair the fight is, after all, the more the hands of the gods are at work in determining the victor.  On Inner Yurand, the laws are less rigid; champions can be commoners, even foreigners.


MILITARY: The King and Queen both have their own lands, obviously, and troops raised from them.  Apart from that, the lords sworn to them raise their own forces, and bring them to war with them.  The greatest strength of Yurand is in its numbers, the quality of its arms and armor (even the rare Adanian sword among the nobility), and the valor of its many, many knights.

Skyknights: Generally considered the very best and most short-lived of Yurand's arsenal are the Skyknights, a measure taken against the flying sorcerers of Megama.  Skyknights ride sunrunners, low, sunstone-powered craft about the length of a kayak.  They are narrow and flat-bottomed, the middle section shaped into a high-backed saddle with comfortable footrests and many restraining straps, the front end traditionally capped with a steel spike.  Skyknights must have the Sunships skill to command their craft, the Counterspell skill to shrug off Megamai lightning, and the physical prowess necessary to be a Skyknight in the first place, and the willingness to gamble it all on whether they can stay on their fast-moving (relatively speaking, a sunrunner is about as fast as an ATV) vessels.  Being a skyknight is an excellent way to gain renown, the Skyknights have their own knightly orders separate from Yurand's royal families and even the leastmost member of a Skyknight order is likely to be celebrated and feasted wherever he goes.  The primary weapon of a Skyknight is his lance, and one of the most important physical characteristics for a Skyknight is the ability to shake a foe's corpse free without losing his weapon.  They also favor heavy, chopping weapons that are well-used at great speed, such as a falchion or an axe.  Skyknights do not use shields, which are useless against many of their enemies, but are trained at countering magic.  Notable orders include the Silver Fangs, the Sun Knights, and the Black Wind.  Unlike normal knights, a Skyknight is chosen by one of the orders themselves.

Knights: Knights are the sworn vassals of Yurand, vowing to put the dual monarchs before their own lives.  You know what a knight is.  Any lord or lady can make a knight, and the vast majority of knights are either bound by blood or oaths of loyalty to a noble house.  Knights have the right to wear the rare and expensive plate harnesses, and ride the smaller, brown-and-red terror birds native to Yurand.  These are smaller and somewhat less fierce than the great terror birds bred on Ada, but still a terrifying sight to infantry.  After all, while a terror bird lacks a horse's sheer running stamina, they can reach great speeds more quickly (so, a charge is typically done from a somewhat lesser distance) and their massive beaks can sever limbs.  Knights of noble birth are trained to the sword from a young age, and combining that with their superior equipment makes knights more of a threat than normal soldiers, much of the time.  There are always exceptions.

Yurandish Men-at-Arms: Yurandish men-at-arms are the thuggish right arm of their employers.  Yurand is renowned for its infantry, and for good reason.  Although not as heavily armored as knights, on par with Megamai regulars and some Rossilian mercenaries, the Yurandish foot has a reputation for discipline, strength, and bloody stubborn-mindedness that has seen it through many campaigns.  Men-at-arms are equipped with a mail hauberk, sturdy boots (although the average Yurandish spearman is apt to complain about them at any given opportunity) and a conical halfhelm with a mail coif and a nasal bar over the nose.  Over their armor, they wear tabards in the colors and heraldry of their employer, those in the service of the royal families wearing the red-and-white lions of Yurand.  Most typically, they carry a sword and kite shield, but have a peculiar tendency to acquire other hand-to-hand weapons (or even the rare spell or two) over the course of a campaign.  Inner Yurand is known for its impressive spearmen, who use heavy shields and long, narrow-tipped spears, Outer Yurand is known for its bowmen, who use the great Hornbows, but neither is exclusive.


HERALDRY: The Yurandish sure do love their heraldry.  Animals are most predominant, but ballads sung about the Wheatsheaf Knight show that there are certainly exceptions.  Golden claws are a sign of royalty, and thus forbidden on lesser heraldry.  A silver charge indicates a commoner who was raised straight to nobility by royal decree, a golden charge indicates a noble (although not a lord or heir) who was raised to head of his own house by royal decree.

The Wheatsheaf Knight: Once, there was a peasant youth named Hewitt, who served as a man-at-arms for Outer Yurand.  One day, while he was standing guard at a tourney, he lamented aloud that he would never be able to participate.  A group of rowdy, young knights overheard, and insisted despite his protests that chivalry would not allow them to deny his wish, laughing to themselves all the while.  They gave him the a suit of mismatched, ramshackle, ill-fitting armor, a terror bird blind in one eye and with a vicious temper, and sat back to watch the upstart learn his lesson.  Instead, he won the whole tourney and the heart of the Queen's sister.  When he revealed he was a commoner and no true knight, the Queen raised him to nobility.  When asked where he hailed from, he pointed simply to the wheat fields surrounding the tourney, and was given the name "Hayward" in consequence. Hewitt Hayward went on many other adventures, becoming a legend in his own right, and finally married the Queen's sister.  Today, the sprawling Hayward family is one of the most devoted to the Queen.  Ryam Hayward, incidentally, is significantly more competent than he appears.

Notably Impregnable Castles: The Lion's Den (Inner Yurand, the King's seat), Myrwin Stone (Inner Yurand), Highwalker Bridge (both), Westwatch (Outer Yurand), Eastgard (Outer Yurand), The Haven (Outer Yurand, the Queen's seat), The Peak (Outer Yurand)

POLITICS:

Current Political Situation: At the moment, King Largo of Yurand is a man in his thirties; ambitious, competent, and a bit too cunning for comfort.  Queen Pomette of Yurand is a girl in her early teens, known for caring more about racing sunships and being amused by jesters and performers than politics or ruling.  They say she has bad councilors, but then, they are always saying SOMETHING.  Megama and Yurand need each other for trade, but the relationship has been very strained at times; the Winged Nobles view the land-walking Yurandish nobility as jumped-up commoners, while the Yurandish nobles view the Winged Nobles as effeminate, cowardly weaklings devoid of martial skill.