The World of San'Dora

Hurishol

Orithain

Andelvai

Orgorosh

Vei-Da

Arvanis, Famor, Akosa

Landroth

Proper Name	Namargal Landrotha	Ruler	King Karhomat Shorgan
Government	Monarchy / Fealty	Population	~276,000 Aranashi
Capital	Zerlaaga	Major Towns	Abuuta, Fagora Hai, Pzaar
Languages	Ult-Undari	Coinage	None native
Resources	Foodstock	Religion	None official
Military	8,000 Light Cavalry 500 Skirmishers 300 Mercs & Irregulars	Arms / Symbol	Crossed black javelins ascendant on a wheat colored losenge.
Allies	Hurishol	Enemies	Kor, Machtig

Landrothi Cavalry

Landrothi Volomancer

Landrothi Rogue

OVERVIEW

A small splinter state of the former Undari Empire sandwiched between the Kor tribelands to the northwest, the Machtig to the southeast, and two other Undari splinter states; Allishan to the southwest and Hurishol to the northeast.

MAGIC

As they are of Aranashi descent the Landrothi lack the ability to practice most forms of Magic, but can potentially be born with an innate aptitude for a powerful sort of Magic unique to them, though it is rare.

Landrothi can be born as either Thanomancers or Volomancers. Thanomancers are called Undu (OON-DEW) and are killed on sight in most Undari nations, Landroth included. Volomancers are called Zagatu (ZAH-GAH-TOO) and can practice their magic openly. Some Undu have successfully maqueraded as Zagatu in the past however, and thus even Zagatu are held in suspicion and must guard themselves to avoid being dubbed an Undu and persecuted.

As their own magic users are both rare and highly suspect, and their native form of magic cannot be taught to someone that lacks the gift for it, capable foreign magic users that sell their services are often in demand in Zerlaaga in the modern day.

HISTORY

In the ancient past the Thanomancers, called the Undu, erected a false religion around themselves on the basis of their magic and used it achieve absolute control over all of the Aranashi colonists living in the vast central plainsland of Danoshorvas. The Cult of Undu culled sacrificial victims to fuel their magic from among the vast ranks of peasantry under their sway and built the Undari Empire, which was one of the vastest and most powerful nations of its time. Thereafter this people have been collectively known as the Undari.

The breaking of the Undu's power led to the fracturing of their Empire into small rival nations two millennia ago. All of the Thanomancers of the time were forced to flee or were slain and the tradition was effectively wiped out as a widespread practice, but due to the innate nature of the magic it is possible for people to be born with the Gift of Thanomancy even still. In the modern day Thanomancers must practice their arts in great secrecy as they are still universally feared and hated by the Undari and are killed if found out.

NAMARGAL LANDROTHA

Formed in the wake of the Undari Empire's collapse two thousand years ago, Namargal Landrotha (NAM-ARE-GAHL LAHN-DROTH-AH), or Landroth in common parlance, was once larger and included what is now Allishan as well as the plainsland stretching to the Dregga Mountains that have since been encroached by the Kor.

The history of this nation has been one of near-constant oppression and violent predation. The Undari people overthrew their Thanomancer oppressors two millennia ago after long centuries of oppression and life was better for the local people for several decades. However unbeknownst to them a deadly war was being conducted in the wild lands on the other side of the Lungorat (now Wundvolding) Mountains between the brutish Kor and the barbaric Machtig.

The gigantic Machtig were triumphant and pushed the Kor out of the subcontinent and through Landroth. The Kor fled before their conquerors across the plains and over the Dregga Mountains, but they eventually returned and seized a good deal of land that once was at least notionally part of Landroth.

Since those ancient days Landrothi existence has been a patchwork of all too brief periods peace punctuated by raids from the Kor, or the Macthig, or both simultaneously. In addition to the endless raids and pillaging, three times the two warlike enemies have used Landroth as a convenient battleground to war across.

SECESSION OF ALLISHAN

The last time this occurred approximately three hundred years ago all of the then-heirs to the Landrothi throne were slain in various conflicts with one or the other occupying forces, reprisals, as object lessons, and a couple that may have been accidents rather than the blatant assassination most folk assumed it to be. In the aftermath of the war the Landrothi settled in to decide the succession of rulership.

Two parties of wealth and relative clout claimed the throne. The first claimant was a wealthy aristocratic family living in the traditional capital of Zerlaaga and claiming a tenuous royal relationship. The other claimant was an enterprising gentleman of wealth and some said nefarious power who practically ruled over the semi-prosperous barter town called Kasaad.

In the end neither side had the resources to conduct a war to oust the other so effectively the nation split apart, in basically two halves with Landroth retaining the northeastern part and the new nation of Allishan taking the southwestern part. The exact demarcation line was never agreed upon however, and some of the towns in the border zone have been claimed or not claimed by Landroth in the centuries since based upon their ability to exert control over them at various periods of time.

RECENT HISTORY

Their violent and rapacious neighbors continued to periodically trouble Landroth for another couple of centuries after its split, but the past ninety years have been good for the Landrothi. With the surcease of aggression from the Machtig to their southeast, the Landrothi have been able to bolster their northwestern border with the Kor, and have enjoyed a good deal of financial growth and overall stability.

This culminated approximately twenty years ago in the first ever true Landrothi military victory when Prince Karhomat Ptahhet (CAR-OH-MAHT pa-TAH-HET) lead his force of light cavalry against Kor invaders that had occupied the town of Fagora Hai (FA-GOR-AH HIGH) and not only succeeded in discouraging further encroachment, but actually suceeded in routing the forces of Chief Gurak of the Kor-Dishan tribe and driving the Kor from Landrothi lands.

The Kor have made a few more tentative pushes since then but they have all been repulsed. Since then Prince Karhomat Ptahhet has constantly striven to enlarge the cavalry and to bolster them with ground forces in the form of Landrothi skirmishers using slings and skilled at laying traps and sneaking into camps at night to wreak havok, and a growing force of hardened Vorgaanese, Machtig, and Nordmanner barbarians that provide Landroth with some much needed heavy infantry and dragoons.

Most notably Landroth has effectively annexed several towns and villages in the vague border area with Allishan and have definitely been creeping the border the past decade. They claim they are lending protection from the Kor to those villages, but many believe the royal family of Landroth plans to make a play to reunite the two nations under their rule.

MODERN DAY

Landroth in the modern day is a nation on the rise, though they are in a critical phase and could be devastated by sudden violence or aggression from another source. Commerce is at a high point, the crops have been bountiful without any famine or droughts, and the capital has been growing into a small city worth the name.

Taxes are a little high to support the aggressive growth of the military, but most of the citizenry are wise enough to recognize that the strengthened military and their relative prosperity are directly linked.

The Landrothi of the countryside are still largely ignorant agrarians that live a life of toil and hardship, but there is a growing metropilization in the capital and larger towns. Merchants, guilds, and various professional service providers are a growing force to be reckoned with.

Also as in many of the major settlements along the Great Northern Trade Route from Daelanthanor to Shidall, there is a thriving industry and sub-culture of caravan masters, guards, drovers, and people of related professions centered around the road and thus thousands of people originally from many different nations are passing through or temporarily residing in the city at any given time.

The Landrothi have no great libraries or universities, but they have the tradition common to most of the Undari peoples of individually educated sages and scholars that are consulted by those in need of their learnedness.

LAND

There is nothing very remarkable about the Landrothi homeland other than its unfortunate location between two powerful and violent neighbors. Their stretch of land is much the same as most of the rest of the Undari plainsland; mostly flat and mostly arable land suitable for farming wheat, corn, and similar crops.

There are a few ponds and streams here and there but no large bodies of water, no notable land features, and nothing of any special significance. There are a few patches of trees to be found, but nothing that could be called a forest. The settlements are scattered and are mostly composed of humble dwellings made of field stone, mud, and roofed poorly with thatch made from stalks.

A fair number of small to medium sized herds of small horses called Ptolu (pah-TOLL-ew) range the plainslands seasonally. Some herds of Rocai and cattle roam in areas but are not common, a few Blaenithteigrod have been known to plague the northern peasants, and lesser hunting cats are not unknown either.

SOCIETY

Landrothi society is still pretty simple. Most of the population live in the country and farm whatever lands they can lay claim to unless they run off or join the military or do something else similarly drastic.

Due to the history of the people under the Undu and in the time since where farms and livestock were subject to raids by either of two stronger enemies the Landrothi idea of ownership is somewhat fluid. Essentially if a Landrothi is able to exert control over something then it is effectively theirs but only for the meantime. If a future circumstance plays out and they are unable to hold on to what they have then some other Landrothi is free to take it over. Thus there is no real idea of "land ownership" beyond what can currently be utilized and squatted on.

The city folk on the other hand tend to be a little more worldly and less tied to the daily toil of farm life. There are a fair number of Landrothi merchants and crafts folk who can manage to turn a good profit from the Daelanthanor - Shidaal trade route. Many such merchants are tolerably well traveled and some are quite knowledgeable. One must never underestimate the essential Aranashi sharpness innate to their people. Even when uneducated an Aranashi can still be perceptive and quick-witted enough to give learned men pause.

The government is basically comprised of the Royal Family plus some important advisors and aristocrats. Different members of the extended Royal Family apply their skills to particular areas of governance that they are predisposed to, by direction of the King.

Though some Royals are surprisingly competent such as Prince Karhomat Ptahhet, not all of them are and this form of governance is essentially haphazard and inefficient. However, it's unlikely to change any time soon.

The nation itself is roughly separated into four districts that are effectively near-quarters of the country. Each district is overseen by an Aragah (ARE-OG-AH), which is equivalent to a governor. Each Aragah is appointed by the King, and is usually a wealthy and powerful aristocrat but is occasionally a member of the Royal Family but due to marriage and heredity sometimes they are both.

Currently the nation is hawkish and thus members of the military are popular and influential. They are currently on a wartime footing and continuing to recruit. Despite the raised taxes and tariffs it is not 100% clear where all of the wealth to pay for the elevated military presense is coming from. At any rate if the Landrothi don't do something with their military soon it is doubtful they will be able to sustain the financial strain of it for long.

Like all Aranashi the Landrothi dislike strong light and thus they are typically active from late afternoon to early morning and sleep through most of the daylight hours. They are able to see well in the dark on all save the deepest night and are completely adapted to this lifestyle.

CAPITAL

From humble origins as a farming community a few millennia ago Zerlaaga (ZUR-LOHG-AH) has grown to be many things. In the later half of the Undari Empire it was a regional seat of power for the Undu, administering the southwestern arc of lands down to Shidaal. There was an Undu "temple" of moderate size here during those times, but it was later torn down and eventually a sports arena was built over its former location.

After the Vorgaa purchased Shidaal from the Undari a trade route eventually sprang up between Zerlaaga and Shidaal which brought new wealth to the region and saw a number of civic improvements including the raising of a wall using stone mined by Undari peasants from the Lungorat Mountains and facilitated by the Thanomancer's magic.

After the fall of the Undari Empire Zerlaaga remained the regional center due to its size and establishment, but repeated sackings by the Kor and Machtig left entire sections of the city some combination of burned out, pillaged, and outright devastated for decades at a time.

However, the Landrothi have always eventually rebuilt and in some ways the constant cycle of razing and reconstruction has helped ensure that the city is relatively clean and modern since even though the city is ancient few buildings have stood unmolested for more than a couple of hundred years at a stretch.

The original walls raised by the Undu's magic continue to stand, and have thus far proved resistant to all harm that has come against them. The gates on the other hand are not so durable and have always been the weakness of the city's defenses. That, and of course the Machtig have frequently been known to simply scale the walls as they are barely twenty feet high.

As the walls are essentially an unchanging constant, the settlement has always had to adapt itself to them rather than the other way around and thus the overall footprint of the settlement has changed little.

Historically it was too dangerous to live outside of the walls and thus there were few structures that weren't inside the curtain wall but in the last twenty years optimistic Landrothi and foreigner merchants alike have felt confident enough in the new found security of the land to construct buildings around the outside of the city walls.

There are no internal walls and people may travel freely, but there are definitely better and worse neighborhoods. The military is responsible for general order as there isn't a separate law enforcement force, but it is common for the wealthy to hire personal guards. Very little in the way of laws are actually enforced and very few crimes are investigated even if reported. People are effectively responsible for their own safety and conduct their own reprisals with impunity so long as they don't make themselves annoying to a royal or important personage.

Due to this Zerlaaga can be a very dangerous place for those that can't take care of themselves.

RULER

Karhomat Shorgan (CAR-OH-MAHT SHORE-GONE) is the Xar (ZAHR, King) of Landroth and is an indifferent monarch, though he seems to mean well and be generally benevolent. His nation's recent good fortunes are a product of external circumstances and the efforts of the King's half brother Axar (AY-ZAHR, Prince) Karhomat Ptahhet military exploits. The King has many wives, but they have all born him daughters save one.

The heir-apparent is the King's only son is Axar-Und (AY-ZAHR OOND, Crown Prince) Karhomat Shesaafa, who takes after and idolizes his uncle to the distress of the King. Some believe that the King was cuckolded by his brother but few dare to utter the idea publically.