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The Most Sacred Order of the One in Hallmarch
The Order of Hallmarch is a large state in southern Aurora. Itâs a highly militaristic and religious state, organized in a mix of theocracy and magocracy. It is a relatively new state, formed just 20 years ago after a war known as The Great Crusade.
Hallmarchian culture and language is similar to IRL German. (Iâll work on it later.)
The state religion of Hallmarch is the Cult of the One. According to it, there is only one God, as ancient as the world, but not its creator. The One is the creator of magic and the one who banished most demons to the Dark Realms, saving humanity. To repay this dept, humanity is tasked with eradicating the last remains of demonic presence in Aurora. This task is to be commanded by those who posses the Blessing (ability to use magic). Those who serve the One well during their life are offered protection after death, preventing their soul to be forever abandoned in the Dark Realms.
Other gods, most of magical creatures, most other races and unbelievers (especially spellcaters) are thought to be connected to demons in some way and are highly resented by the Order, but can be temporarily tolerated for the sake of politics and long-term strategy.
In Hallmarch there are three man religious institutions, The Order and its feudal system of Lords is expected to carry out the will of the One and lead the fight against demons. The High Priesthood interprets the will of the One and conducts a multitude of religious ceremonies, usually meant to ward off demons, bring the Ones favor or absolve people of sins. The Inquisition seeks out any traces of heresy, unbelievesr or rebellious spellcasters and deals with them accordingly. It sometimes performs more secular duties, such as dealing with traitors.
Belief in other faiths is illegal and punishable by death, but exceptions are granted to foreign traders and diplomats. Most of the population has been converted, after a campaign of religious oppression, indoctrination and quashing of several revolts. Many people, especially those who lived before the Great Crusade, adopted the new faith purely out of fear and arenât very zealous in their belief, but are reluctant to open rebellion.
Not everybody is able to practice magic. It is available only to those who posses the Blessing, which varies in strength. The Blessing and its strength are hereditary, but it can appear in people from non-magical families. It usually starts to manifest around the time of puberty.
The world is filled with Raw Magic and those that posses the Blessing are able to manipulate it to create tangible effects. The amount of Raw Magic one can draw on depends on the strength of their blessing, training and physical health of the caster.
Things created from Raw Magic stop being magical just after their creation, which makes enchanting and creation of long-lasting magical effects is particularly difficult. Special items, commonly referred to as anchors, have to be used to amplify and trap the magic in place. This is associated by complicated rituals that require a specific way of casting, featuring body movements and incantations that trap the magic by weaving it in special patterns and attaching it to the anchor. Most commonly used materials for anchors are silver, diamonds and blood.
Most Hallmarchians are humans, but there are small communities of demidragons across the Dragonlands. They are humans, but with certain draconic elements, such as wings, scales, claws or a breath weapon. They are a result of a human conceiving a child with a dragon in its human form.
Before establishment of the Order, the land it currently occupies was divided between the Hallmarchian Kaiserreich in the north, a powerful feudal empire, known for its ban on the use of magic (but magical items were allowed); the Dragonlands in the hills to the south, divided into several petty kingdoms ruled by dragons that ruthlessly extorted their human and demidragon subjects; and a multitude of tribal states in the far south, believed to be the origin of the Hallmarchians and the Cult of the One.
Around 25 years years ago, the Kaiser of Hallmarch, Friedrich von Habsburg, passed away, leaving the Kaiserreich in the hands of his teenage son, Heinrich. His claim to the throne was disputed, due to the rumors of him being a spellcaster. Many nobles preferred his younger brother, Otto, and a civil war broke out. Heinrichâs less numerous supporters lost, and he was exiled to the south, together with most of his supporters and many alleged spellcasters.
They found refuge in one of the tribal states, ruled by a powerful spellcaster, Sybille. The exiles brought modern advances in warfare and governance with them and were taught magic. Eventually, they adopted the local faith and rose to become the elites of the tribe.
In the span of 3 years, the tribe they settled in managed to unify all the other tribes, thanks to their help, even taking control over the Grand Temple. Using their influence over the High Priesthood, the Great Crusade was declared. Thousands of powerful demons were summoned with the Gate to the Dark Realms, which were subservient to the Crusaders.
With the help of demons, all but one of the dragons, who joined the crusader cause, were slain, securing support from the people of the Dragonlands.
Then, the invasion into Hallmarch begun. Otto was a weak Kaiser, basically a puppet to the nobility, so the populace welcomed the return of now adult Heinrich. The Crusaders easily broke the Kaiserâs army near Kaisergrad, the capital. They besieged and sacked the city. Later, last of the Hallmarchian lands were subjugated and the Order created. Sibylla became its first Grandmaster, while most of her supporters received lands as Lords. Sköder, a major port city, became the new capital.
Heinrich, now referred to as Revan, wasnât happy with his share of the spoils. He became a mere Grand Duke of now ruined Kaisergrad. He believed he deserved much more, as the heir to the Kaiserreich. He gathered his supporters, mostly former exiles, and marched on Sköder. However, he backed down at the last minute. He and his supporters were pardoned.
Several religious and separatist revolts rose up in the past 20 years following the Crusade, but were brutally put down, discouraging further rebellions and cementing the Orders rule.
The Ordered is ruled by the Grandmaster. They are the leader of the military, are responsible for the Orderâs diplomacy and national policy, create laws and directly govern an area around the capital (the Crownlands). Most other lands are governed by Lords, who are nobles possessing the Blessing and often occupy the highest-ranking positions, with varying degrees of power and autonomy. Their positions are hereditary. Smaller nobles, either in the Crownlands or subservient to one of the Lords, donât need to posses the Blessing.
There is also the Grand Council, comprised of the Grandmaster, Grand Priest, Grand Inquisitor and all Lords directly subservient to the Grandmaster, excluding those in the Crownlands. It can make modifications to the religious doctrine, functions as a court for the Lords and chooses a Grandmaster after the current one dies. All decisions made by it must be approved by the Grand Priest to ensure they are coherent with the Will of the One. The Grand Inquisitor ensures none of the decisions violate the current religious doctrine. The decisions are made with a 50% majority.
The Order maintains neutral relations with its neighbors, Rocova and Terra Luma. It has an agreement with Terra Luma which allows it to exploit border provinces for their magical sand in exchange for more favorable trade deals. Many coastal nobles grant Rocova trade privileges in exchange for many or better trade deals. The Order does not maintain relations with any other states, but has a vague idea of their existence thanks to Rocova.
Internally, there is a small power struggle going on between Revan, the Grand Duke of Kaisergrad and the Grandmaster. Though he backed down from his coup attempt, he is still quite power hungry. He has developed his lands into some of the wealthiest in the Order, with projects such as diversion of trade along the river that runs through his lands, his capital Kaisergrad and the newly created port at its mouth, instead of the previous trade port of Sköder and roads that run from it to Rocova. He is also trying to gather support among his fellow Lords and religious institutions. He has already gained the favor of the Grand Priest and Grand Inquisitor, who view him as completely dedicated to the holy cause and support of the King of the Dragonlands, acquired through a series of trade agreements and joint projects.
The Orderâs feudal system is quite unique. All Lords directly subservient to the Grandmaster (once again excluding the Crownlands) are equal no matter their title. they are mostly a matter of prestige. In their own lands however, Lords have a regular feudal system, akin to those present in most other states, which is impacted by the Lords title (e.g. who can they have below them in their hierarchy). The title of Grandmaster is often treated as equal to Emperor. Fighting between nobles is strictly prohibited and any territorial disputes are handled by either the overlord of the Grand Council. Cities lack the self-governance of the burgher class, instead are much more tightly controlled by nobles.
Vassal States and Regions
The three most important vassals inside the Order are:
The Grand Duchy of Kaisergrad - Area around the river and the old capital of Kaisergrad. It is highly developed and has excellent conditions for agriculture, thanks to the river and a warm climate
Kingdom of the Dragonlands - The hilly, resource rich area in the south. It is quite sparsely populated, cold and forested. Itâs also ruled by a dragon.
The Holy Land - It is the seat of the Grand Priesthood and hosts the Great Temple, the most holy site of the Cult of the One.
The norther lands of Hallmarch are warm and fertile, providing majority of the Orderâs food supply. Thatâs also where most of the population and more advanced industry is located.
In the south, which is much colder and sparsely populated, logging and grazing dominate, as well as a significant mining industry in the Dragonlands. There are also small demidragon groups that hunt lesser dragons, which despite not being magical like their almost extinc sapient counterparts, are still valuable. In the border regions with Terra Luma, there is a large industry from mining and smelting its magical sand into glass with various magical properties.
Hallmarch exports mainly raw materials and simple processed goods. The only exception is magical glass and dragon parts.
It imports mostly foreign luxury goods and magical items.
Majority of its trade isnât done directly, with Rocova acting as the middleman, thanks to their better knowledge of and relations with foreign powers as well as trade expertise. The Order trades directly with Terra Luma.
The Order is higly militariatic in nature and is conserned with both its defence and possible expansion routes. It fields a standing army of 40 000 proffesional soldiers trained in the Sköder Military Academy, arranged into two Legions. They make heavy use of magic in the form of specialized mages, that assit with sieges, communication protection and fire support as well as Knights, a magical heavy calvarly unit. Non-magical Guards serve as crossbowmen or frontline spearmen.
In case of a larger conflict, the Order can call upon private retinues of nobles and form levees from citizens. Nobles are expected to provide protection for roads and cities under they control. Demidragon dragon hunters are commonly utilized by nobles from the Dragonlands.
The Order does not maintain a navy. Dealing with pirates is often left to individual nobles or Rocovan mercenaries.
The Order is currently not involved in any conflicts.