“Citadels symbolizing magical craftsmanship at its finest, situated deep within a forest tamed by arcane sorcery. Yet despite the environmental perfection, outsiders are advised to stay out of the woods, for this is a nation known for inequality and intolerance.â€
well like I told you, I really haven't worked too much on Airindale, a few major facts you can expand heavily on:
As Dave's dislike for Airindale in my game may be noticed by others, the nation has a culture for intolerance and bigotry. Airindale elves (particularly their nobility) are naturally arrogant towards citizens of other countries, and those who are not pure-elves born within the kingdom will finding life within Airindale very... unpleasant. This fundamental problem of 'attitude' is one of the main reasons which Airindale keeps going into war with Archeron. Every time a major conflict arises, the Airindale's intolerable attitude in the diplomatic table tends to cause escalation of hostility between the two nations. Although Airindale NEVER begins a war with open hostilities, it is always Archeron that makes the first now. The elves, despite their arrogance and belief of 'superiority', simply aren't interested in conquest.
Fey exists in relatively large numbers within Airindale, often integrated into the elven society. The elves recognize well their connection to the fey of their land, as they are the source of elven magic bloodlines. It is because of this that various species of fey are the only other race truly respected by the elves. Airindale magic are typically a combination of Elven & Sylvan to reflect upon this, although experienced mages also know languages of other magic branches including draconic, inferno, celestial, & the elemental languages.
Divine magic is a taboo for their mages, its cause can be traced back through history to the rupture and exodus of the Druidic elves now living in Misalin (cough you don't know this, with few exceptions). An argument brought forth is that because druidic magic draws power from nature, and as a result causes nature to grow more rampant, more uncontrolled... where the elves of Airindale seeks the knowledge and use of arcane magic to tame nature in every respect. They would not rely upon nature, refused to be controlled by the factors of nature. Instead they seek to alter the balance of power in that equation.
Airindale research into control of nature has allowed them to convert numerous druidic spells, particularly elemental spells, into arcane. They research most heavily into elemental planes of water & air, while barely touching (if at all) fire & earth.
The people of Airindale has a strict social hierarchy, and stresses on maintaining social prestige more than people of any other nation. Marriage outside your immediate social level tends to be frowned upon, and so is association outside profession. The only exceptions to this are the trade guilds and the Vigilance Guard (Airindale military force), which requires those elves to adopt a more moderate standpoint (and less social bias) to trade with other nations & promote comraderie within their ranks.
The five gemstone houses of Airindale sets the top of their social structure, and is in charge of numerous primary functions within the nation. The five houses are:
Arinydeth (Eternal Silver Diamond): the royal house or Airindale
Elinyreth (Azure Arcane Diamond): the lorekeeper house, in charge of research & arcane development
Ansrikyvin (Runic Storm Ruby): the skymage house, in charge of trade, transportation, & all manufacturing regarding elemental air magic.
Ruapytha (Star Vigilant Sapphire): the duskblade house, in charge of military & defense
??? (an unnamed Emerald house): the warden house, in charge of 'landscaping', mainteinance, agriculture, & all manufacturing regarding elemental water magic.
Airindale economy revolves around their craftsmen. Elven finesse allows them to produce more precise and highly quality goods than any other nation, although slower and at higher costs. Their research into elemental air and water magic also gives them the upper hand in that department. The Sky Galleons of Naralan are actually a produce of cooperation between Airindale & Archeron (with a lot of money involved), reflected upon by the skyship's iron-darkwood hulls. While the bulky Sky Galleons are the Naralan fruits of skyship research, the Vigilance Guard relies on smaller & much more maneuverable Skyskiffs.
During the Second Great Alliance War, the Vigilance Guard of Airindale put up a valiant fight but their land forces failed to hold their ground. The total war tactics used by Norinth despoiled the Airindale forests while they pushed south along three spearheads, converging upon the Capital (I actually can't remember its name, it never played much importance in anything) before claiming the Airindale Artifact. Upon the 'sacking' of the Capital, the Norinth forces withdrew, leaving a half shattered and corrupted kingdom to recover. Since then the kingdom has been sticking along policies of reconstruction and vast expansion to their military forces (which their wizards have done their best to hide from other nations). Norinth has their undead, Naralan has their golems and now... warforged. The wizard of Airindale believes that thru all their research, they now have the third 'limitless' unit of war, although few actually knows what said unit is, or even how many they field.
All the rumor spreads is... they shall have their revenge... and Norinth shall be a wasteland by the end of it to pay for their treacheryStatistics: Posted by Zanaikin — Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:11 pm
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