Breoa

Breoa

Breoa is a frozen land. Most of its land is covered in permafrost and grows no crops. The people are tough but not exceptional at any type of artistry. Only two things keep Breoa afloat: its secret technique of harnessing elemental magic and its people’s unique talent for raiding. Breoan boats fly across the waves and through the rivers of Ramesh hunting for targets. The raiders strike like lightning before leaving just as quick. For centuries, raiders have brought treasure from all over Ramesh back to Breoa. Their plundering keeps the country stable.

But Breoa’s way of life has drawn enemies. People from all over the continent grimace at the mention of the nation. Now, after the capture of Kaldr from Kovorov, the plundering of Flovios, and the sinking of multiple ships from Aquar, the noose is tightening around Breoa’s throat. It is now up to Brekendahl, his many Saints, and the Jarls of Breoa to somehow maintain their country or die with it.

Terrible Land

The land of Breoa is borderline inhospitable. Its soil barely grows even the heartest crops. Harsh snow buries the land for most of the year. Large stretches of open plains are speckled with rocky outcroppings making large scale farming operations incredibly difficult. In addition, mountains trisect the land. Kvef is almost completely cut off from the rest of the nation by them and the Fangelsi mountains to the South prevent Breoa from expanding its borders. That is not to mention the creatures. Ravenous beasts prowl both the plains and mountains.

The Fangelsi mountains swarm with dire griffins. These griffins have a particular taste for humanoid flesh. They swoop down from the high peaks to pick off isolated travelers on roads. Giant birds known as Rocks also make their living on the Fangelsi mountains hunting griffins and people alike.

To the North is not much better. There it is giant country. Near Kvef, the giants have made their strongholds in the mountains, hills, and deep underground. There is thought to be no greater hotbed of giant activity than the Risi Mountains near Kvef. Normally, relations are peaceful. But every now and then, tensions will flare between the two groups. When this happens, the population of Kvef is often reduced by a fourth.

Harnessing the Elements

Two hundred years after the founding of Breoa, a great discovery was made in the capital. Druid figured out how to draw out elementals from the Prime Ring. These elemental spirits could then be housed and have their power used to create many new inventions. This relationship is symbiotic. The elementals in captivity have means to use and grow their power while the people harnessing the elements can perform feats of magic that have not been seen since the times of Caerwyn.

Mostly, the Breoans have used these elementrix (originally called element tricks, before moving to element trix, and eventually the two words combined into elementrix) on their ships. With a sufficient number of elementrix, a ship can fly a few feet over the ground for short periods, submerge itself underwater with a bubble of air, shoot streams of fire from special cannons, or even summon small patches of earth for a ship to anchor to in the night. A Breoan ship with elementrix is easily the most advanced ship sailing around the continent of Ramesh (apart from Astral Sailers).

Many have tried to learn the secret of the elementrix. However, Brekendahl has woven a powerful spell around the knowledge behind the elementrix. No person of Breoan birth can have the secret of the elementrix leave their mouth or mind. Only through a special ritual conducted by a Saint or Brekendahl himself can the secret of the elementrix be spread.

Once a group from the Ard Magos attempted a spell to allow them to bypass the curse. Nearly 400 dead Ard Magos later, one dead Saint, and an enraged Brekendahl, the Ard Magos swore to never attempt such a ritual again. Now they even openly advise against trying to learn the secret. This has not stopped many would-be scholars from trying to seek the truth. However, only morticians and graverobbers have benefited from these efforts.

The Raider’s Way

For many in Breoa, raiding is a way of life. It does not matter a person’s race, gender, class, or any other factor besides how well they raid as soon as they step aboard a longship. Those who become a raider face both a life full of adventure and incredible tragedy. One in three do not survive their first raid. There are few old veterans aboard a raiding vessel. However, many a raider will say that no matter how much gold they earn they will never retire. The thrill keeps them plundering. Perhaps it always will...

Death Before Failure

One of the most important parts of the raiding life is the mantra “death before failure.” Most raiding expeditions have enough resources to be away from port for two or three months. During this time, there are only a few viable raiding targets that might be seen. With so few chances, failure could mean the entire expedition makes meager or zero profit. Therefore, even when things look dire, Breoan raiders will continue to fight. They require all the values they can pillage and more in order for their families to eat during the harsh arctic winters.

Tactics

Raiding parties usually set sail with elementrix loaded longboats. These boats have high floating hulls that when mixed with elementrix allow them to sail across nearly any body of water including shallow rivers. Breoan raiding vessels have been seen sailing up rivers deep into the jungles of Arket (although this was one documented incident and it was thought that the crew was trying to resupply for the long journey back to Breoa).

Raiders are usually armed with a battle axe, throwing daggers, an icepick, rope, and fur armor. They are built for speed. Raiders usually begin to engage from afar with their daggers before moving into melee range with their axe. Their arsenal allows them to hack through chests, doors, and walls as well as people. No fortification can stop a Breoan raider for long.

However, the raiders often look for soft targets. Merchant ships, lost travelers, or the poorly guarded caravan are all favorites. With long periods of time between resupplies and limited medicine, raiders try to limit casualties. Although, many still do occur. Veterans have learned to stay back while the young, naive, recruits rush forward. Many will die but will leave openings for the veterans to rush forward and take the leftover riches.

Peace Amongst Cousins

The Breoans have an understanding between them: peace amongst cousins. In essence, a Breoan raiding party will not attack other Breoans. Due to their harsh way of life, all Breoans recognize each other as family (albeit distantly related). A party that has been found guilty of violating this peace is usually brutally tortured before being thrown in a prison cell for the rest of their days.

Looking the Part

Many raiders take pride in how they dress on a raid. They braid their hair, comb their beards, wear custom face paint unique to each person, and adorn themselves with charms dedicated to their favorite Saints. This adds to their mystic amongst non-Breoans. The unintentional branding of the raiders has for centuries worked in their favor and many scholars agree that it is unlikely to stop.

Training

Raiders usually enter the life in one of two ways. Either a raider is a person who could not make it in the Breoan military or they joined the Raider’s Guild in Vangen. Vangen is the primary starting point for raiders. The city of thieves takes pride in housing most raiders within Breoa. In fact, the city is built on raiders.

Training in Vangen usually takes three months. During this time the guild hones a recruit’s body and mind. Grueling twelve hour days drag on in mold covered warehouses. Yet, by the end, a recruit is a fully capable sailor who any raiding expedition can feel confident in collecting.

Dropouts from the military are hired too but at a much lower fee. These dropouts usually need to prove themselves on an expedition before they get regular pay. This is difficult and many face a harsh learning curve on the job. Yet, the military training they received, no matter how brief, usually makes the dropouts who survive into excellent raiders who become veterans.

Are You Good At Raiding?

Unlike much of Ramesh, the raiders do not care if a person is a child of Sin. They do not care about past crimes (except the truly horrific). The only thing that matters is a person’s ability to plunder. In a strange way, the raider’s society is the most egalitarian in all of Ramesh.

For the Community

Raiding expeditions are partially funded by local communities. While ship captains and crew receive a portion of the bounty, priority goes to the people. Breoa sustains itself off the efforts of the raiders. And while the life of a successful raider can yield a grand fortune, it is never lost on those who plunder the seas who helps to finance their endeavors.

It is the community who tends to the raider’s sick. The community who gives supplies to repair a broken part of the vessel. At the end of a career, it is the community that provides a retired raider (however few they may be) a weekly allowance of coin and food. Therefore, the raiders always give the people their due. Those who do not face the rather of not only those they betrayed but also other raiders. Without a doubt, the economy of Breoa would not function without the raiders supplementing it.

Land Worth Less Than Dust

Many say that the land of Breoa is worth less than dust. An acre that could feed dozens in Doz might only be able to feed two or three in Breoa. Everyone lives on a knife’s edge. Without the steady supply of food brought back by the raiders, it is almost certain the land would enter a famine.

Arctic Land

Breoa is well within the arctic of Ramesh. During the winter months, like in Kovorov, the sun disappears from the sky creating the polar night. In addition, the mountains have created areas known as arctic deserts. Very little precipitation falls. Not even snow blesses Breoans who usually melt snow into water for drinking. If there was ever a place not to live, it would be Breoa.

Breoan Beekeeping

Surprisingly, the Breoans have found a way to improve their crop yields, create a tradable item, and make sweet mead all with one industry: beekeeping. The beekeepers of Breoa mostly operate near Razzia. With elementrix to aid them in keeping the bees warm in the winter, the beekeepers travel in great caravans across Breoa during the spring, summer, and autumn months.

These bees pollinate the meager crops of Breoa allowing them to create yields two or three times what is expected (and yet the yield is still far lower than anywhere else on the continent). Family history and tradition, passed down orally, is how the new beekeepers are taught. There is a beekeeping guild in Razzia but they do not teach new keepers. Instead, the guild helps regulate crop production and makes sure the bees are being kept in safe conditions. Every family of beekeepers has different methods.

Those families with stellar methods have survived generations. Families with poor skills either starved or moved to raiding. Because of this, it has become difficult to replicate the techniques of the beekeepers in other areas around Ramesh. Many master beekeepers have their students simply observe over decades. No scholar has been able to wait with a single family for decades yet to learn their secrets...yet.

A new beekeeper is considered an apprentice. This apprentice helps the master beekeeper of a family until their death. When the master dies, the apprentice becomes a full beekeeper. One of the regular beekeepers of the family then rises to the rank of master beekeeper and takes new apprentices.

Sometimes, thieves from outside Breoa will attempt to kidnap a master beekeeper. This is devastating for a family. Ransoms can climb as high as ten thousand gold pieces. However, powerful or rich beekeeping families might hire a group of raiders to get their family member back. The raiders, who understand the need for Breoan bees, are usually happy to oblige. Woe to those who kidnap a master and are not prepared for the onslaught that is about to befall them.

Finally, in the winter months, the beekeepers harvest honey from their bees. This honey is used to make the legendary Breoan mead. During a time when the sun does not rise and the raiders are stuck in port, nothing lifts the spirits in a Breoan tavern than when a keg of newly made mead is broken open. This mead, spoken about mythically around Ramesh, is Breoa’s one true export.

Harvesting the Elements

Across Breoa there are areas of strong elemental magic. These places are searched for by element hunters. The hunters find the elements and then lead a crew with an elementrix back to the location.

To be an element hunter requires an incredible understanding of nature, toughness, and perseverance. Places with a high concentration of elemental magic might be weeks from civilization. An element hunter must be self-sufficient and able to handle the harsh arctic environment. Not only this, but they then must lead a team back into the wild to coax out the elemental.

The person who is responsible for getting the elemental into the elementrix is known as a Menfi or an element tamer. These individuals, told the secret of element taming usually by a Saint, are some of the most powerful people in Breoa. It is after being led to the elemental that the Menfi follow their training and coax the creature into its new home. This process is draining. Most Menfi wait at least twenty-four hours before exerting themselves again after housing an elemental.

Dangerous Creatures

Many dangerous creatures stalk the lands of Breoa. Giants reign in the Risi Mountains to the North. Griffins make their home in the Fangelsi Mountains to the South. In between, large mammoths roam. While gentle, a startled mammoth is certainly a handle full. Hunting mammoths is all manor of large predators. Saber tooth cats, snow bears, wyverns, rocks, and even the occasional yeti all hunt the arctic wastelands searching for mammoth or humanoid alike.

The native Breoans do not hunt mammoths. This is for a simple reason; decreasing the mammoth population means the predators get bolder. Villages can become a ghost town in the night if the mammoth population drops too low. A hungry yeti can easily eat a dozen humanoids in a single night.

Government Structure

The government of Breoa is a fractured mess. Brekendahl spends most of his time out at sea while the power brokers of his nation fight with each other as much as with Breoa’s enemies. With this as a foundation, it is thought by many that political unity is impossible. Only via Brekendahl’s strength is Breoa held together.

Konungur, the Ice Lord or Lady

The Konungur, also called the Ice Lord/Lady, is the head of the Breoan government. They hold vested within them the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of the government. Their word is considered law.

Upon the death of a Konungur, the Jarls of Breoa meet in the palace in Razzia. There, the Jarls elected a non-Jarl to be the next Konungur. This is usually a member of the Jarl’s own family. After thirty days of deliberation, the Jarls vote. If a person gains a majority, they become the next Ice Lord or Lady. Or, if no one person gains a majority, Brekendahl arrives. He then proceeds to give three tests to the two potential Konungurs with the most votes.

These tests are usually based around sailing, combat, or feats of leadership. Whichever potential Konungur performs the best in the trials gains the title. However, usually if by the last trial the two potentials are tied in the eyes of Brekendahl, the final test is a duel between the two for the right to become Konungur.

As of the year 701 AR, the current Konungur is Ivar Freydris. Ivar is a Hobgoblin man with tattoos covering his crimson skin. While Ivar is only forty-one, he has sat as Konungur for nineteen years. It is said there is no better ship captain in Breoa than Ivar Freydris. Under his watch, the Breoan navy has tripled in size.

Jarls

A Jarl is the head of a Breoan clan. The title of Jarl is bestowed on the person who oversees a hamlet, village, or city. One Jarl can manage more than one population center but this is rare. Only the most powerful Jarls are given the opportunity to rule more than one place.

Most clans have a line of succession. Each clan has their own unique aspects to their succession but usually the eldest child of the previous Jarl is first in line for the position. This is unless a member of the clan challenges the eldest for the position. A challenge can come in the form of combat, a game of wits, or another trial that the majority clan finds acceptable. Being a Jarl is not only about a person’s ability to fight. A challenge should test the Jarl’s best quality. No leader leads alone and every Jarl has an entire clan to help them make decisions. Therefore, only what a Jarl excels at should be tested. If a Jarl is not best at something, then they should not be Jarl.

Challenging is considered dangerous. If the challenger loses, they are likely to be exiled from the clan by the new Jarl. Therefore, a new Jarl might expect only one challenger and many instances have occurred where the new Jarl is not challenged.

Clans of Breoa

Before Brekendahl came to power, Breoa was ruled over by warlords. Those warlords came from ancient families. The families that survive today are known as the Breoan Clans.

A Clan’s power fluctuates over the generations. Most clans hold some sort of authority in Breoa whether that be ruling a population center, managing a guild, or leading a raiding company. However, a Clan can lose their power through the normal political means (assassination, backstabbing, etc.). Sometimes if a Clan’s enemies wish it, they will wipe out a Clan and end a bloodline stretching back over seven-hundred years.

New Clans can also arise. This is a rare feat usually done through the acquisition of incredible wealth, unparalleled combat prowess, feats of heroism, or becoming favored by the Konunger. These Clans often start by managing a small village and growing their strength over successive generations. Infighting

Open conflict amongst the Clans is rare. With this being said, the Clans fight with each other constantly. Spies disrupt supply chains while soldiers clash in back allies. It is a never ending struggle for each Clan to maintain their political power and an even greater struggle to rise through the ranks.

The Konunger does not see this as a problem. It is widely known that Breoa is most stable when the Clans are at each other’s throats. This is because only through unity can the Clans exert control over the Konunger. Therefore, the leader of Breoa works diligently to in secret sow seeds of discord amongst the Clans. Shifting control over a village, increasing the yearly taxes, or even falsifying intelligence are all tools in the Konunger’s toolbelt. Those Knoungers who refuse to set the Clans against each other are usually ineffective or do not survive long.

The secret for Breoa’s success lies in the Mefni. This means they hold a considerable amount of political power. A Mefni is one of the few people who can defy the order of a Jarl without fear.

Although they are paid thousands of gold pieces a year, a Mefni rarely needs to spend them. Any merchant or tavern owner will often give the Mefni what they ask for without charge. A traveler wandering through Breoa should take note not to anger a Mefni. They hold more power over the land then one might expect.