![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
annarti.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
yrae
Final kingdom profile, Llayad
Geography
Mixture of all three other kingdoms: Sandy, yellow desert in the south, lightly wooded savanna in the midlands, oak forested mountains to the north. The mountains are higher than in Kazin, and so it snows more often.
Southern end of the lake is a salt lake in summer.
Population and Density
Most people live in the lower regions of the mountains. Densely populated in the north, virtually unpopulated in the south.
People don’t tend to live in towns. The upper class live in castles, and the land around it is worked by the lower class. There is no real middle class.
Major population centres:
Kilyad: 1000
Nenyad: 500
Minyad: 500
Rayad: 400
Lonyad: 400
Belyad: 400
Niryad: 300
Melyad: 300
Total: 30 000
System of Government
Technically a monarchy, but the court makes all the decisions, the king and queen just announce what they said. They generally don’t have much of an idea about how to rule a kingdom. There are a few exceptions, of course, but for the most part, the job of the king and queen is to look pretty.
For each castle, there is a lord who rules over the peasants in his area with his lady. As far as the peasants in the region are concerned, what the lord says is law.
Currently ruled by King Keldirande and Queen Rilldana.
Industry, Currency and Trade
Markets don’t exist in the true sense of the word, rather merchants travel through the countryside in caravans of between one and five trading carts, depending on what they’re selling.
Llayad trades raw materials such as wood to Raykin and Tsayth, as well as rugs to Kazin and Raykin. Llayans are entirely self sufficient aside from their near-complete lack of an army, so Tsayth offers them defence in return for the wood to build their boats, and Raykin and Kazin each offer artwork, wood carvings, jewellery, embroidery and other shiny things that have little or no purpose.
Primarily a barter economy (trade food for clothes, for example), but coin can also be used.
Coins are gold, silver and copper.
1 gold = 10 silver = 50 copper = $10
1 silver = 5 copper = $1
1 copper = 20c
Main Historical Events
7: Kingdom of Yraekin founded by Yan—extended through the river systems of all Tsyllaes.
33: King Yan killed, family banished to the desert, Qewir crowned king, kingdom renamed to Raykin
989: Kazin broke off of Raykin, this time including the mountain regions—all of present day Kazin and northern Llayad
1468: Kazin ruled all of present-day Raykin and Llayad and was encroaching upon Tsayth.
1503: Tsayth broke off from Raykin and drove Kazin back
1567: Raykin reassumed itself, tried to take Llayad as well, but Llayad defended by Tsayth and declared own kingdom
1567: Tsayth and Llayad declared their own kingdoms, formed an alliance.
3001: Kazin gave up on trying to invade Raykin and instead went for Llayad. Major battle at the then-capital, Niryad.
3003: Tsayth attacked Kazin from all sides, traversing all rivers including the Tsayla to Niryad.
Language
Incredibly formal. Always refer to themselves and others in the third person, since there is no word in their language for me/I or you. Pronounce vowels as the English language does, rather than the soft ‘ah’ sounds of the other Tsyllaes languages, and so get referred to as having a ‘flat’ sounding accent.
Family Structure and Roles
Mother: cooks, cleans, looks after kids, etc
Father: breadwinner
Kids: boys and girls both help mother when they’re old enough to do so, then boys help father when they’re old enough to do that.
Lords & Ladies: lords distribute food etc to peasants, ladies do weaving and embroidery etc.
Crime and Punishment
Dealt with by the lord of the castle. Various penalties depending on the lord. Stealing a loaf of bread from one lord could mean an hour’s flogging, while rape may earn little more than a slap on the wrist from another. The ruling body of the kingdom have little say in what happens on various estates, unless it really starts getting out of hand.
Valued Traits
Honour
Pride
Love
Physical strength in men
Artistic talent in women
Eloquence
Scorned Traits
Dishonour
Greed
Laziness
People doing the jobs of opposite genders
Historical or Cultural Prejudices
Racially, none. They know what Kazin and Raykin did in the past, but believe that after so many centuries of peace between them, they have changed their ways. They think the Tsaythis are somewhat uncouth, but aside from that there’s really nothing.
However, there is almost always tension between the lord and the peasants working his land. The peasants don’t believe they get enough, their lords believe they give them too much. There is also often tension between neighbouring estates, either between the peasants or the lords themselves. Often this manifests itself in the form of fights, with fists or pitchforks between peasants, or with swords or even lances between lords.
Staple Foods
Staple diet: wheat
Other food: orchard fruits, farmed vegetables
Meat: domesticated animals (cows, sheep and chickens), game for the nobility only
Llayan food is held in high regard by all the other kingdoms, especially the biscuits and cakes. Of course, generally only the nobility eat this well, but Llayan food is always an ideal for the other kingdoms.
Housing and Architecture
Peasants: two or three room huts built of wood, rooves either thatched or made from wood.
Nobility: stone castles primarily for show
Clothing
Peasants: shirt and shorts/skirt made from undyed cotton. Furs in the mountains
Nobility: rich silks or velvet depending on the climate, heavily embroidered. Furs in the mountains
Arts and Music
Both are very highly prized by Llayans, the more foreign the better (Tsaythi pearls are particularly prized in the north, while Kazinian rugs take pride of place in the south). Evenings are often filled with music.
Religion and Associated Titles
Not so much religion as mythology. Numerous deities, but no single deity is worshipped enough that it be called a religion. The whole kingdom believes in each of the deities, but may only worship a few.
Core principles and Doctrines
Dependant on the deity of choice. For example, the main idea for those worshipping the goddess of flowers would be to give the plants ample water, while those worshipping the god of baking would be told never to take bread out of the oven before it has fully risen.
Deities
Too many. There is quite literally a deity for every aspect of Llayan life, except life and death. They even recognise the deities of Kazin and Raykin. There is no single ‘all powerful’ god who rules over everything.
Priests and Priestesses
None, though anyone who knows the names of each and every Llayan deity is probably close enough to being a priest/ess.
Birth, Death and the Afterlife
Birth: Highly celebrated among the peasants. Gifts are given to the mother and her baby. When a lady of nobility gives birth, the peasants are generally given a day off in order to pay their respects to the mother and child. The first words that are spoken to a newborn baby are always ‘welcome back’.
Death: The family of the deceased will wear a face veil (women) or tie a black band around their arm (men) for a month after the family member has passed on.
Afterlife: Llayans believe in reincarnation, saying that when a soul grows bored of one body, they leave it and pass onto another, more interesting one, human or animal. In the case of slugs, snails and other less desirable creatures, the Llayans have decided that as a default, they have no soul, since nobody in their right mind would want to live as a snail, and certainly not in the numbers such creatures exist.
Important Ceremonies
Each deity has one day of the year when they are celebrated by all who worship them. Given the plethora of Llayan deities, it is not uncommon for people to celebrate two or three deities on the same day.
Every three years on the 40th day of Winter (August 1st for us), the Llayans hold a two-week tournament in Nenyad, the purpose of which is to get all the good fighters of the kingdom together, as well as dragging in a few from Kazin and Raykin, maybe even the odd Tsaythi. It’s a very prestigious event, and Raykinians and Kazinians are more than willing to make the journey to prove themselves as the best fighters in Tsyllaes. The most prestigious event of the tournament is the jousting, followed by the sword, archery and the horse race, which is more just for fun than actually winning anything.
For those who don’t compete, it’s much like a day at the races: the men place bets on who they think is going to win a given event, while the women dress up in their finery and prance around the boys as the boys prance around on their horses for them.
The prizes for each event are as follows:
Government Involvement
Depending on the leniency of an estate’s lord, the peasants may get a day of rest to celebrate their deity of choice.
Religious Crime
Blasphemy is unheard of in Llayad. If anyone curses one deity or another, the Llayans believe they will end up in the body of one of the less desirable, soulless creatures.
Land and history
Geography
Mixture of all three other kingdoms: Sandy, yellow desert in the south, lightly wooded savanna in the midlands, oak forested mountains to the north. The mountains are higher than in Kazin, and so it snows more often.
Southern end of the lake is a salt lake in summer.
Population and Density
Most people live in the lower regions of the mountains. Densely populated in the north, virtually unpopulated in the south.
People don’t tend to live in towns. The upper class live in castles, and the land around it is worked by the lower class. There is no real middle class.
Major population centres:
Kilyad: 1000
Nenyad: 500
Minyad: 500
Rayad: 400
Lonyad: 400
Belyad: 400
Niryad: 300
Melyad: 300
Total: 30 000
System of Government
Technically a monarchy, but the court makes all the decisions, the king and queen just announce what they said. They generally don’t have much of an idea about how to rule a kingdom. There are a few exceptions, of course, but for the most part, the job of the king and queen is to look pretty.
For each castle, there is a lord who rules over the peasants in his area with his lady. As far as the peasants in the region are concerned, what the lord says is law.
Currently ruled by King Keldirande and Queen Rilldana.
Industry, Currency and Trade
Markets don’t exist in the true sense of the word, rather merchants travel through the countryside in caravans of between one and five trading carts, depending on what they’re selling.
Llayad trades raw materials such as wood to Raykin and Tsayth, as well as rugs to Kazin and Raykin. Llayans are entirely self sufficient aside from their near-complete lack of an army, so Tsayth offers them defence in return for the wood to build their boats, and Raykin and Kazin each offer artwork, wood carvings, jewellery, embroidery and other shiny things that have little or no purpose.
Primarily a barter economy (trade food for clothes, for example), but coin can also be used.
Coins are gold, silver and copper.
1 gold = 10 silver = 50 copper = $10
1 silver = 5 copper = $1
1 copper = 20c
Main Historical Events
7: Kingdom of Yraekin founded by Yan—extended through the river systems of all Tsyllaes.
33: King Yan killed, family banished to the desert, Qewir crowned king, kingdom renamed to Raykin
989: Kazin broke off of Raykin, this time including the mountain regions—all of present day Kazin and northern Llayad
1468: Kazin ruled all of present-day Raykin and Llayad and was encroaching upon Tsayth.
1503: Tsayth broke off from Raykin and drove Kazin back
1567: Raykin reassumed itself, tried to take Llayad as well, but Llayad defended by Tsayth and declared own kingdom
1567: Tsayth and Llayad declared their own kingdoms, formed an alliance.
3001: Kazin gave up on trying to invade Raykin and instead went for Llayad. Major battle at the then-capital, Niryad.
3003: Tsayth attacked Kazin from all sides, traversing all rivers including the Tsayla to Niryad.
Language
Incredibly formal. Always refer to themselves and others in the third person, since there is no word in their language for me/I or you. Pronounce vowels as the English language does, rather than the soft ‘ah’ sounds of the other Tsyllaes languages, and so get referred to as having a ‘flat’ sounding accent.
People
Family Structure and Roles
Mother: cooks, cleans, looks after kids, etc
Father: breadwinner
Kids: boys and girls both help mother when they’re old enough to do so, then boys help father when they’re old enough to do that.
Lords & Ladies: lords distribute food etc to peasants, ladies do weaving and embroidery etc.
Crime and Punishment
Dealt with by the lord of the castle. Various penalties depending on the lord. Stealing a loaf of bread from one lord could mean an hour’s flogging, while rape may earn little more than a slap on the wrist from another. The ruling body of the kingdom have little say in what happens on various estates, unless it really starts getting out of hand.
Valued Traits
Scorned Traits
Historical or Cultural Prejudices
Racially, none. They know what Kazin and Raykin did in the past, but believe that after so many centuries of peace between them, they have changed their ways. They think the Tsaythis are somewhat uncouth, but aside from that there’s really nothing.
However, there is almost always tension between the lord and the peasants working his land. The peasants don’t believe they get enough, their lords believe they give them too much. There is also often tension between neighbouring estates, either between the peasants or the lords themselves. Often this manifests itself in the form of fights, with fists or pitchforks between peasants, or with swords or even lances between lords.
Staple Foods
Housing and Architecture
Clothing
Religion
Arts and Music
Both are very highly prized by Llayans, the more foreign the better (Tsaythi pearls are particularly prized in the north, while Kazinian rugs take pride of place in the south). Evenings are often filled with music.
Religion and Associated Titles
Not so much religion as mythology. Numerous deities, but no single deity is worshipped enough that it be called a religion. The whole kingdom believes in each of the deities, but may only worship a few.
Core principles and Doctrines
Dependant on the deity of choice. For example, the main idea for those worshipping the goddess of flowers would be to give the plants ample water, while those worshipping the god of baking would be told never to take bread out of the oven before it has fully risen.
Deities
Too many. There is quite literally a deity for every aspect of Llayan life, except life and death. They even recognise the deities of Kazin and Raykin. There is no single ‘all powerful’ god who rules over everything.
Priests and Priestesses
None, though anyone who knows the names of each and every Llayan deity is probably close enough to being a priest/ess.
Birth, Death and the Afterlife
Birth: Highly celebrated among the peasants. Gifts are given to the mother and her baby. When a lady of nobility gives birth, the peasants are generally given a day off in order to pay their respects to the mother and child. The first words that are spoken to a newborn baby are always ‘welcome back’.
Death: The family of the deceased will wear a face veil (women) or tie a black band around their arm (men) for a month after the family member has passed on.
Afterlife: Llayans believe in reincarnation, saying that when a soul grows bored of one body, they leave it and pass onto another, more interesting one, human or animal. In the case of slugs, snails and other less desirable creatures, the Llayans have decided that as a default, they have no soul, since nobody in their right mind would want to live as a snail, and certainly not in the numbers such creatures exist.
Important Ceremonies
Each deity has one day of the year when they are celebrated by all who worship them. Given the plethora of Llayan deities, it is not uncommon for people to celebrate two or three deities on the same day.
Every three years on the 40th day of Winter (August 1st for us), the Llayans hold a two-week tournament in Nenyad, the purpose of which is to get all the good fighters of the kingdom together, as well as dragging in a few from Kazin and Raykin, maybe even the odd Tsaythi. It’s a very prestigious event, and Raykinians and Kazinians are more than willing to make the journey to prove themselves as the best fighters in Tsyllaes. The most prestigious event of the tournament is the jousting, followed by the sword, archery and the horse race, which is more just for fun than actually winning anything.
For those who don’t compete, it’s much like a day at the races: the men place bets on who they think is going to win a given event, while the women dress up in their finery and prance around the boys as the boys prance around on their horses for them.
The prizes for each event are as follows:
| Event | First prize | Second prize | Third prize |
| Jousting | Elephant | Llayan jewellery | 100 gold pieces |
| Sword | Camel | Sword | 50 gold pieces |
| Archery | Llayan horse (zebra) | Bow | 25 gold pieces |
| Horse race | Llayan horse (zebra) | Saddle | 25 gold pieces |
Government Involvement
Depending on the leniency of an estate’s lord, the peasants may get a day of rest to celebrate their deity of choice.
Religious Crime
Blasphemy is unheard of in Llayad. If anyone curses one deity or another, the Llayans believe they will end up in the body of one of the less desirable, soulless creatures.