Tabras

National Overview

Feudal Nation founded in 118 YG.

Dominant Culture

Tabrani culture is the most common throughout the nation. At the periphery there are a few smaller enclaves of foreign cultural and ethnic groups, whom are considered Tabrani citizens by virtue of geography, but have not fully adopted the parent nation's culture.

Government

Head of State

Ig-Itoq

Ykel Vylan is the seventeenth monarch of Tabras. Tabras has had a single dynasty since its founding all hailing from house Vylan.

Capitol

Pianira

Tabras is ruled from the royal castle at Pianira. The largest city of Tabras, Pianira is also the holy seat of the Egor -Pontiff - for Church of Ryla.

Levels

National

Tabras is a monarchy, currently ruled by the Ig-Itoq - king. The nation is subdivided into regions under the direct rule of nobility of varying ranks, all subordinate and owing fealty and tribute to the Crown.

County

Large territories encompassing several shires. The Count or Countess is usually of royal birth, and hold considerable political sway.

Shire

A regional division of approximately 100 manors. The noble in charge of a shire acts as administer of the monarch's justice within their shire.

City

Tabras has only a few cities, which are held by important nobility, usually royal cousins. these nobles will appoint some administrative position to handly day to day affairs of the city, collect taxes on their behalf and other duties.

Town

Towns in Tabras are held by important nobles, who may leave the daily administration to a town master, or council. the lord or lady still has oversight, and may veto any edicts made by the town administrator on their behalf.

Fief

Individual landed knights will have holdings of several hundred acres, upon which one or more villages exist. The local manor lord or lady may pass sit in judgement and pass local ordinances in the territory they control, but are still beholden to the laws of the Royal decree, and answer to higher nobles in turn who administer larger domains.

Law Making

From the lowest level up to the national level, laws may be passed by whomever is the ruling noble, or royal, in charge of the local territory. such laws are a matter of edicts passed by those who rule. A singular codified document stating what is or isn't current law does not exist as such. However, any decrees would be recorded, and it is a matter or memory, or researching said records to determine what may or may not be legal.

Enforcement

Royal and local laws are enforced by the law makers themselves, or soldiers in their employ. Each level of government may have to answer to the next higher level if their laws or the enforcement of such are deemed to harsh, or lax.

Taxation

Each level of government collects taxes from the populace for public works, and income to the landholders themselves. A portion of such income is owed to the next higher level of the government in turn.

Public Works

Major public undertakings are usually accompanied by a specific taxes to support their construction and ongoing maintenance.

Roads

Roads in Tabras are maintained by local municipalities on an as needed basis for facilitating movement of trade goods between producers and markets. Taxes raised for repairs and maintenance may include tolls set at key river crossings, bridges or important crossroads.

Sanitation

Only the larger cities of Tabras have anything resembling a publicly maintained sewer system. Most human waste is collected for use by tanners and other trades.

Commerce

Agriculture

Crops

Tabrani farmers grow a decent variety of fruits, grains, and vegetables suited to the climate.

Fruit

Apples, plums, and cherries are grown in orchards or as singular trees in a peasant's house yard.

Nuts

A good selection of nut bearing trees and shrubs are common throughout Tabras. Some varieties are cultivated as a source for useful waxes and oils.

Grains

Daygrains are the most popular as they are tolerant of the drier interior climate of Tabras. Nearer the coast a mix of potgrains and mudgrains are grown.

Legumes

Beans, peas and other legumes, including tree beans, are common throughout Tabras.

Root Vegetables

Pot roots and aother root crops are common in Tabras where the local ground is less rocky, with sufficiently deep soil.

Leaf vegetables

Cabbages and other leaf vegetables are common in all parts of Tabras.

Squashes

Squashes are a common inclusion in any Tabrani garden.

Melons

A few varieties of melons thrive in Tabras, mostly in the river region.

Grapes

Few grapes grow well in Tabras, although some vineyards can be found in coastal regions.

Herbs

Every garden has a selection of herbs grown for medicianl and culinary purposes. Large scale herb farming is not practical, or economically feasible.

Herds

Tabrani livestock is generally kept for meat, leather, milk, textile fibres, eggs and feathers.

Teica

The primary producers of wool fibres, teica can be found in every region of Tabras. meat and leather are secondary products.

Cebuc

Cebbuc are primarily raised in drier, scrub terrain, as such they common in Western Tabras. Cebbuc provide milk, meat, leather, and some wool fibres.

Rabbuc

Raised in large herds for milk, meat, and leather.

Rabbox

Every village is dependant on a rabbox for pulling heavy plows and wagons, as such they are found everywhere in Tabras.

Horses

Primarily raised for riding, horses are a common sight in more pastoral regions.

Fowl

A variety of geese, ducks and chickens can be found as free ranging flocks in rural villages.

Secondary Agricultural Resources

Flax

Flax is grown in suitable terrain for textile fibre.

Reeds

Paper Reed and Beak Reed are both commonly found in Tabras, and are cultivated for paper and cordage fibres respectively.

Wysps

Honey and wysp wax are produced by wysps kept by orcharders to help pollinate crops.

Hunting

Seasonal hunting of various animals provides a common supplement to the diet of many Tabrani folk. Wild populations of Cebuc, Rabbuc, and Teica are found in the wooded areas of the Nation, and some more exotic species are hunted on the Plains of Tekara, when their annual migratory patterns bring them within the borders of southern Tabras.

Fishing

Just about every river, lake or pond in Tabras has some variety of fish, crustacean, or shelfish which provide food for the local population. In coastal settlements a portion of the population will be fisherfolk who gather a bounty from the Torcastan Sea.

Gathering

Foraging for wild edibles is common in rural areas. A wide variety of berries, nuts, roots, herbs, and fungi are typical produce from such labours, following seasonal availability.

Industry

Resource Extraction

Forestry

Tabras has an active timber industry, providing materials for construction of ships, buildings, and common woodcrafts.

Hardwoods

Oak, Maple, and other hardwoods are typically sawn into lumber for various uses.

Softwoods

Primarily found in the foothills of the Darlom Mountains, spruce, and pine are used for lighter construction or firewood. Cedars found in the river region are used for a wide variety of products.

Mining

Tabras has a wealth of metals and other minerals, which are mined primarily from the foothills of the Darlom Mountains, but a few interior locations have deposits of useful resources.

Stone

Stone quarries are a regular site in Tabras, where limestone, sandstone, slate, and other durable building material are extracted. Tabras also has access to marble of good quality.

Clay

In parts of the river region useful clay deposits have been exploited for pottery and other uses.

Coal

Coal deposits are fairly common throughout central Tabras, and are mined to fuel forges, cookfires and heating of homes during winter months..

Metals

Iron, Tin, Lead, Copper, Gold and Silver have all been found in Tabras.

Gems

Tabras is one of only places where emeralds can be found. More common gemstones found in the foothills of the mountains.

Manufacturing

Goods in Tabras are generally produced to order, and no mass production occurs, although certain towns or villages are renowned for the quality and artistry of specific products.

Mills

Wind, water, and manual mills are used for the production of many resources used for final product creation. Sawmills for wood and stone, hammer mills for metalworking, and flour mills for grinding grain into flour are the most common applications of such devices.

Specialties

Basketry

The town of Qima-Qiry is renowned for the quality of its baskets, made from local grasses, rattan, and wicker.

Marble

The quarries at Taban-Oria produce some of the finest quality marble in the known world. The product is an expensive luxury export

Paper

Soem of the best paper available for trade comes from the paperhouses of Seyp-Qat and its nearby villages.

Trade

Tabras has a good variety resources available in the various regions, some of which other nations desire. The nation also relies on a internal and external trade for several resources not found in some regions or nationally.

Markets

Market Squares

Only the larger towns and cities of Tabras will have a regular standing daily market. In such locales a designated common is reserved for the established visiting vendors. Regular brick and mortar stores and shops will generally be located on nearby streets.

Market Days

In smaller communities market days occur on a five-day or ten-day cycle, which differs by settlement such that neighbouring villages do not have market on the same days. the frequency of market days drops in the winter months, mostly due to transportation delays from inclement weather.

Imports

Food;Citrus fruits and some other varieties of exotic foodstuff can only be imported from places where they grow.

Furs and Hides:Tabras trades with the Anatu and Tak-Mi-Lah for some animal products the tribal people hunt in their territory.

Dyes:some colours of dye are jsut not available from lcoal sources, and must be imported from foreign markets.

Spices and incense

A variety of spices produced in foreign regions cannot be grown in the local climate and must be imported.

Textiles

Tabras will import silks, and other textiles from foreign manufacturers to supplement their own wool and linen..

Wine

Both Waejir and Aralia produce a wider variety of wines, including some of arguably superior quality to locally produce vintages.

Exports

Furs:Tabras has an active trade in furs to foreign markets where the exotic material is used for fashion.

Grains:Tabras has a excellent climate for some grain crops, namely daygrains, and will export some of its surplus to foreign markets.

Marble:Tabras has access to some of the finest marble known.

Paper

Paper is produced at a quality and quantity to be a valuable export to foreign cities.

Transportation

Generally goods and people move about by barge along rivers, ships by sea, and cart or wagons on inland roads. Pack animals may be employed where the local terrain becomes unsuitable to wheeled conveyances, such as the mountains and foothills.

Trading Posts

Along Tabras' borders, where tribal nations are located, Tabras has established a network of trading posts. These small fortified outposts where the local can bring resources and goods for sale to Tabrani merchants in exchange for manufactured good produced in Tabras or beyond. Additionally these post serve as a military staging areas having a small garrison of soldiers. They also have a small contingent of priests from the churches of Peolu and Ryla present as missionaries reaching out to the heathens, and also serving the spiritual needs of the forts occupants..

Trade Routes

External

Land

An eastward land route connects Tabras with markets in Krolar, and to some northern settlements of the Kronar.

Westward, Tabras trades with Kythus through the Darlom Mountains via the East Pass.

There are a few routes skirting the east and west edges of the Plains of Tekara linking Tabras with Aralia, and some stops along the way with the local tribes,

Sea

Trade by sea follows the coast either east to ports of Krolar or south to ports belonging to Aralia, Quzonia and Waejir

Internal

Land

Two major east-west land routes exist in Tabras. One skirts the borderlands on the southern bortder, and the other boundary between the prairie and river regions in central Tabras.

River

The only major river route follows the winding course of the river through the forested northern border region.

Currency

Tabrani currency is somewhat unusual in its form, being non-circular. All Tabrani coins have a punched hole for stringing several coins together on a cash string. The denominations of Tabrani coins are: The triangular Porpoise (half-penny), the square Crown (one-penny), square Sovereign (two-pennies), and rectangular Throne (six-pennies). Foreign coins from Aralia, Iskander, Krolar and Kythus are known to be found in circulation, but are usually reserved for trade with merchants and travellers from those nations. Barter is an accepted method of trade almost anywhere, especially amongst the common folk.

Banks / Money Lenders

Banks exist in every Tabrani city, and moneylenders can be found throughout the nation in any settlement of town size or larger.

Role of Guilds

Given the proximity to Aralia, most guilds are found in Tabras, especially in the coastal region. The guilds hold monopolies over certain trades and goods, but they walk a narrow beam between the governing monarchy, the church and secular concerns. Some feel that the guilds might try to replace the monarchy for economic control of the nation, which is a concern of some merit given the occasional historic conflicts between the crown and various tradespeople.

Military

Controlling Body

Ultimately the monarch controls the military might of Tabras, through a system of vassalage. While some professional soldiers exist in the role of guards, town militias, city watches, and regular patrols, or outpost garrisons, the majority of any armed force will be levied as needed. When called upon by one's liege, nobles will call upon their own vassals to recruit and supply soldiers to there cause in turn.

Size

An army so called up would likely number 10,000-12,000 soldiers of all ranks and skill levels.

Organization / Ranks

The leader of such an army may appoint any number of his/her vassal knights to command smaller forces, which may be subdivided as said commander sees fit.

General

The highest ranking noble officer in any army.

Commander

A number of lesser nobles will be put in charge of units of up to 1,000 soldiers of mixed roles.

Captain

A lesser noble, or veteran commoner soldier who is command of up to 100 soldiers, usually of a single type.

Lieutenant

A veteran commoner soldier in command of a squad of up to 20 soldiers.

Roles / Equipment

Heavy Horse

A usually noble knight upon a war horse. used in cavalry charges. Typically armed with a broadsword, lance, and kite shield. Secondary weapons may include a variety of maces, flails, hammers or picks. Wearing a mix of plate and mail armour.

Light Horse

Skirmisher cavalry, often used as auxiliary forces or to provide flanking maneuverability around other units. Armed with Broadsword, lance, and round shield. Secondary weapons may include a variety of maces, flails, hammers, or picks. Light horsemen wear quilt, or leather armour, with some mail or ringmail.

Heavy Foot

Baseline soldier used in defensive lines, and in assaults on defended positions. Armed with polearms, and kite shields. Secondary weapons may include falchions, axes, maces, flails, hammers or picks. Usually wearing mail or ringmail.

Medium Foot

Baseline soldier used in general melee combat and sieges. Armed with spears and round shields. Falchions, axes, maces, flails, hammers or picks may be wielded as secondary weapons. Wear scale, leather, or quilt armour.

Light Foot

Auxillary footsoldiers, lightly armed, often used as skirmishers, or scouts. Lightly armed with spear and round shields. Secondary weapons are typically falchions or axes. Usually wearing leather or quit armour. Some light foot will carry shortbows if used in a skirmish role.

Longbow Archers:Ranged attacking archers used prior to direct engagements. Armed with their signature longbow, and a secondary weapon, typically a falchion or axe. Lightly armoured in leather, kurbul, or quilt.

Crossbow Archers

Medium foot soldiers who carry a crossbow, and tower shield. Most often used for sieges, and in defensive formations. Secondarily armed and armoured as medium foot.

Engineers

Skilled in the construction and operation of siege equipment, design of defensive earthworks, or bridges. Some are also specifically trained as sappers, for tunneling beneath structures to weaken defenses. these specialists are typically armed and armoured as light foot.

Conflicts

Past

The Flower Rebellion

349 - 349 YG : Flower Rebellion

The Flower Rebellion was a short lived uprising by a small number of Tabrani noblemen who wanted to divide Tabras into three smaller kingdoms. these traitors to the crown claimed the Ig-Itoq was insane and thus causing the nation to be seen as weak in foreign relations.

Ongoing

349 YG - : Tekaran Conflict

Tabras and Aralia have been at war for the majority of the last half century. The Plains of Tekara, seem to be the focus of this dispute. While neither side is willing to make a full effort to resolve the conflict, neither is willing to back down. The merchants of both nations accept this ongoing strife as a fact of life, and continue to do business with each other so long as there is still a profit in it. This fact alone suggests that the fighting is merely an excuse to keep both countries economies fluid and stable.

Integration with Civil

When not activly serving, the bulk of an army's soldiers exist as common tradespeople, labourers, and farmers. The noble officers will return to managing their fiefs and ruling over their tenants. City and town militias, are typically comprised of professional soldiers, hired by the local government representative as a police and defense force. Usually they are armed as medium or light foot soldiers, and may include crossbows or shortbows as part of their gear.

Religion

Dominant Religion

The majority of Tabras follows the Twinned Goddess religion. The Seat of the Rylan Pontiff being in the city of Pianira.

Minor Religions

Despite the efforts of Ison-Ilyo Vylan to eradicate minority religions from the nation, many still persist. These include tribal beliefs from settled nomadic peoples, and foreign religious beliefs of immigrants and travellers.

Integration with Civil

Tabras has a close connection between the church and state. Monarchs are coronated by the clergy to cement their connection to rightful rule in the eyes of The Goddess. Religious representation is included in all national celebrations and other important events. Noble houses will often have their second sons pursue a life in the church.

Education

Generally ones education is directly related to learning a trade. Nobles will receive lessons in some academic fields and topics relevant to statecraft.

Levels

Schools

Formal schools only exist in the form of orphanages providing the basic equivalence to homeschooling. Although the church sponsored education given in such places may grant a degree of literacy not found in homeschooled children of common folk. Additionally such education is influenced by the faith, and motivations of the church itself.

Tutors / Teachers

Tutoring in specific subjects is a service provided to the nobility and wealthier merchant class by scholars and clerics, on a case by case basis.

Sages / Scholars

Professional scholars are reliant on the patronage of wealthy citizens, They may provide information in a fee per service manner, but seldom take the role of teachers without an extended contract.

Literacy

A majority of Tabrani people cannot read or write. Such skill is typically found only in those who use it on a regular basis with their professional pursuits.

Languages

Tabrani

The common tongue throughout Trabras. Regional dialects exist, but mostly present as accents which betray the speakers home.

Tabral

An interlang developed over many decades by both Tabrani and Aralian merchants to facilitate trading between the nations. It is often learned by the children of such merchants, and by others who frequently travel between the two nations.

Scripts

Noldar

Tabrani persons who can write use the same script found in Krolar

Numeracy

Most Tabrani can count to one-hundred and perform simple arithmetic. Advanced mathematics, such as algebra, geometry or calculus is reserved for those trades who rely on such math, such as engineers or perhaps moneylenders.

Philosophy

Few Tabrani have risen to the forefront with the study of philosophic issues. However some members of both churches of the Twinned Goddess regularly have debates about the nature of the divine, treahni kind, and other esoteric topics.

Architecture

Materials

The materials used for constructing buildings vary, depending on availability, the wealth of the occupants, the purpose of the building, and intended permanency. Timber and stone are used primarily for foundations and frames. Ground floors are typically packed dirt, or flagstone, while upper stories have plank floors. Planks or daub and wattle is typical for upper story walls. Roofing materiel may be thatch, cedar shingles or slate tiles. In southern Tabras, where Malys ethnic populations exist, sod is sometimes used for walls and roofs.

Designs

Houses

The wealth and occupation of the persons dwelling within will influence the design of Tabrani homes. Typical peasant cottages will have a half-sunken basement for livestock with the treahni occupying the floor above.

Urban homes tend to be built upwards, often with a workshop, or store occupying the lower floor.

Workshops

Small shops will occupy the lower front portion of the owner's home. Larger shops with large workforces tend to be semi detached, or separate buildings. Some will include a dormitory for worker above the main shop floor.

Warehouses / Barns

Large timber framed structures with an open interior. Some have lofts for storage, accessible by ramp, ladder, or stairs. Upper doors opening to a block and tackle or lift are common on larger structures.

Fortifications

Typically built of local stone, or as wooden pallisades, town walls and other defensive forts usually have small watch towers and gatehouses. A perimeter walkway along key lengths of the walls, and some crenellations or hoardings may be present as required by the defending forces.

Keeps

Most Tabrani keeps are built using local stone, and formed by three or four rectangular buildings connected to form a square courtyard, either directly, or by short walls running between them. These buildings will have reinforced outer walls, with defensible turrets at the corners.

Palaces / Castles

The design and architecture of castles are unique to each structure, although typically they are built from stone with nested walls, and a larger fortified keep. Such grand structures are usually built over a long span of years in several stages.

There are six castles in Tabras:

• Pianira Onocir / Pianira Castle - The royal palace at Pianira is the seat of the Ig-Itoq. This castle has three parts: The outer wall which encompasses a significant portion of the city proper, a middle wall which contains key structures important to the governance of the city and nation, and a keep with a perimeter defenses forming the home of the royal family themselves.
• Watol Onocir / River Castle - The castle at Seyp-Qat.
• kafo-Livi Onocir / Red Island Castle - The holy seat at Lisan-Penar occupies an island on Lake. This small castle contains the most important religious structures for the church of Ryla.
• Lisan Onocir / Lisan Castle - The secular government has a castle at Lisan-Penar which occupies a high bluff overlooking the city.
• Kileq Onocir / West Castle - The castle at Mali-Synar includes the city's perimeter wall as the outermost defenses.
• Olani Liaq / Olani Keep - While still called a keep, the defensive structures of Olani form a proper castle, which contains the entire town.

Temples / Churchs

Churches in Tabras vary from small timber and stone chapels in rural villages, to larger open spaced buildings with high vaulted ceilings and large floors for congregations. The style and amount of decorations will reflect the relative wealth and age of the parish associated with a church. Most chapels or churches will have a few chambers attached to serve as living space for the parish priest and a few acolytes

Timekeeping

Calendar

Tabras uses the Saynoh Calendar and counts years in the Year of the Goddess reckoning.

Timeline

Founding

Feudal nation founded in 118 YG.

Dynastic Timelines

Tabras has been ruled by a single dynastic line since its founding. A set of great tapestries depicting the events of each ruling Tabrani monarch's reign hangs in the Hall of Crowns at the royal palace.

Agab-Abya Vylan (118 - 134 YG)

Tiso-Lai Vylan (134 - 173 YG)

Kifo Vylan (173 - 184 YG)

Tiow Vylan (184 - 209 YG)

Poar-Qir Vylan (209 - 234 YG)

Jonel Vylan (234 - 247 YG)

Ibi-Igow Vylan (247 - 275 YG)

Jalen Vylan (275 - 292 YG)

Efoasa Vylan (292 - 319 YG)

Ison-Ilyo Vylan (319 - 319 YG)

Rake-Og Vylan (320 - 342 YG)

Vaal-Ara Vylan (342 - 344 YG)

Resip Vylan (344 - 376 YG)

Edigagi Vylan (376 - 382 YG)

Nat-Nebe Vylan (382 - 394 YG)

Sixin Vylan (394 - 397 YG)

Ykel Vylan (397 YG - )

Key Events

281 YG - The Glass Tax is established by Jalen Vylan

319 YG - Assassination of the 10th monarch, Ison-Ilyo Vylan.

349 YG - The Flower Rebellion thwarted by Resip Vylan.

389 YG - The Docker's Strike occurs in response to edict by Nat-Nebe Vylan.

Geography

Landmarks

Natural

East Pass - A pass through the Darlom Mountains, linking Tabras with Kythus to the west.

Green Lake - A freshwater lake with a sandy bottom, named for the green tint to the sand which gives the water a greenish cast.

Nina-Waa - A Basalt ridge running east-west through central Tabras.

Population Centres

The Largest settlements of Tabras ranked by population:

Pianira - pop. 45,000

Seyp-Qat - pop. 27,000

Lisan-Penar - pop. 13,500

Mali-Synar - pop. 6,750

Olani - pop. 3,400

Aehe-Fafa - pop. 2,150

Fafa-Hie - pop. 1,600

Taban-Oria - pop. 1,250

See Also

Plains of Tekara