The Lore of Ergus
The Red Crags
A land of lush greenery and searing heat; strips of brilliant green farmland and jungle alternate with lava flows. Barrier walls of Fireglass shelter the small dotted villages surrounding The World’s Heart, a massive, active volcano. Visitors to this city-state see people in touch with the rhythm of the land, tending their orchards and crops; sometimes with only the protection of Fireglass insulating them from active streams of magma. The regular ventings of The Heart are harnessed to smelt ore, which is then traded to surrounding lands. A resilient people with fire in their hearts, the populace flock to their dueling circles for entertainment; the competitors seeking to rise in rank within the kingdom.
Cities and Landmarks
The land is actively volcanic, the capitol (named unsurprisingly, Caldera) is set in the leeward side of the main vent of The World’s Heart. Massive walls of fireglass encircle the city, keeping the lava flows at bay when needed. Caldera has a sister city in Alloy, the seat of production and trade for the kingdom. Alloy sits opposite Caldera, on a plateau of basalt and Fireglass. There are a few dozen smaller hamlets and townships, but 80% of the population lives in Caldera or Alloy.
Natural Resources
Due to the semi-regular eruptions, the surrounding lands are very fertile and supply enough food for the populace with little effort. The areas surrounding the volcano are fertile and lush, perfect lands for cultivation. Orchards and field crops are prevalent, as are fields for livestock of all types. Corn, sweet potato, and wheat are staple starches, which pair well with the fruits and tree nuts from the orchards. The main export of the kingdom is food.
People and Lifestyle
The Red Crag society has ritual combat deep at its core. The King comes from a line of mighty fighters, and his Fireglass greatsword has been passed down in his family and is rumored to make him untouchable within the confines of a duel. The highest members of the military and often the most successful people within any single sub-sect of the kingdom are typically the best duelists within their community. Most duels are not fought to the death; that type of combat is reserved for wartime or the most grievous of offenses. Bloodthirsty duelists who overstep this unspoken restriction are often sought out by regional or higher champions and challenged to duels where the loser is exiled, maimed, or in rare cases, executed. Dueling is a public event, and every town often has multiple dueling venues to observe the contests.
The people of the Red Crags are industrious and diligent; they work, and play, hard. Competition and ambition go hand in hand, and disputes are often settled with some sort of physical competition, even amongst families and friends. The typical person from the Red Crags also enjoys games of fate and chance; however those types of contests are never used as a means for advancement, only as entertainment.
Cultural Philosophy
Combat prowess is highly valued within the kingdom, and is how many of the positions of the hierarchy and military are established. Challenging too far above your station is frowned upon: you must climb the ranks one position at a time, or possibly be challenged by someone so far above your skill that you have no chance to win, as a lesson in propriety. Losing an appropriately ranked challenge holds little stigma; it was merely not your time to rise. Dueling is used as a means to determine legal matters as well; the victor being given a verdict that favors them. In cases of gross imbalance of skill within civil and legal matters, a champion can be enlisted to duel as a proxy. There are many professional duelists within the cities who can be hired to be just that, although one cannot use a professional to increase your own status, only as a means to win over a legal case.
Etiquette and Society
The people of the Red Crags are generally polite, as to give offense could mean a quick trip into a dueling circle. Hospitality and generosity are a given in this society; a balance has been attained since the Reckoning that allows everyone to be sheltered, clothed and fed sufficiently. In general, everyone has enough to be able to share, so they do. It took hard work to get to this stability, so a hard work ethic is valued highly. In leisure time, the citizenry practice their passions, be it art, music, food, study, or physical prowess. Someone who does not take time to develop their passion is looked at with suspicion, or perhaps pity.
Architecture and Art
Caldera and Alloy are built from stone, metal, and for the oldest buildings, opaque Fireglass. Wood is only used as a luxury, and then only usually in the interiors of buildings where it is safe from stray ashfall. Further away from the mountain, sturdy jungle woods and bamboo are used in construction where appropriate. The buildings in the main cities are usually constructed with few -if any- windows or balconies opening toward the Heart’s peak. They are only a few stories tall at most, with sturdy, sloping roofs that shed ash and the rare snowfall. Wide avenues with deep gutters are carved through the city, following ancient lava tubes and flows. If the Fireglass walls ever failed, this may offer a path of least resistance for lava, and a modicum of protection for the buildings.
Despite being made of such stark materials, there is color and warmth throughout the cities in the form of artwork. Gallons and gallons of pigments and paints are used yearly for murals and designs on the exterior walls of the buildings. Delicate lanterns of brightly dyed paper and fabric are in view on the leeward side of buildings and in shuttered balconies. Carvings and statues out of volcanic stone and works of metal and obsidian dot merchant squares and gardens; these are replaced and redone often as the sculptors and welders hone their passions.
Food and Diet
Based on the quantity of foods produced in the area, the dietary preferences are widely varied. It isn’t uncommon for someone to gain renown for creating new and unique dishes during the various feasts and gatherings.
Brewing is another passion, and there is a wide range of alcohol offered at these get-togethers. Wine, small beer, fermented fruit juices, all are easy to obtain, but moderation is stressed. Someone who gets sloppily drunk is asked to not return, and will find themselves dueling the host if they do not get the hint.
Professions and Skills
Your profession within this culture will often align with your passion. Those who enjoy cooking become the meal preparers; those who have a penchant to fight, but do not want to rise ranks within the military, become professional duelists. People who want to sell things are merchants, and those who like to grow things in the earth farm.
This is not always the case, as many people do not have the passion to work a smelting bellows for half of a day. Those who have lost enough duels or committed certain crimes will get the less tasteful jobs within the city. These people are still given time to follow their passions and enough food and shelter to be comfortable (within a certain standard), but they will spend their allotted time working the physically challenging or dangerous jobs. There are upsides to this, however. Stories abound about those who have gained strength in the bellows of Alloy, taken that strength to challenge and win a duel with a rival, and climbed back up to fortune and luxury.
Holidays
The Red Crags follow a lunar calendar, and their holidays are commensurate with the astronomical year. There are 4 main holidays, which are celebrated on the solstices and equinoxes. Each new moon is also a minor holiday, a universal day of relaxation. The 4 main holidays are as follows:
- Rising Day: The spring equinox, a celebration of beginnings and starting fresh. Celebrated with food, music, and revelry, the universal time to announce engagements or start beginnings of new ventures. The most robust and active holiday.
- Shimmer: The summer solstice, a celebration of the peak of the year. Physical contests like duels and dance are the forefront of this holiday. Most weddings in the kingdom occur on or near this day.
- Observance Day: The fall equinox, a celebration of consistency and ritual. A day of quiet contemplation and family and displays of long-term efforts like sculpture or architecture.
- Dimming: The winter solstice, a day to rail and rant against what tore the world apart. A day to let loose and scream into the night. This is the day to sever ties, break bonds, and take life, if needed. Usually a much more private day with little public displays.
Government
The Red Crags are a monarchy mixed with a meritocracy. The King could be deposed, but it would take a mighty duelist rising through the ranks one fight at a time, until finally challenging and defeating the monarch.
His Majesty Lyle Mekinnin is the current monarch, from the Casteret Dynasty. His family has been in power since The Reckoning. They rose to power in the chaos of that age, in part due to the family’s raw martial prowess, and in part due to their ancestral weapon, Ninon’s Razor. The Razor is an elegant long bladed sword made from one perfectly formed piece of Fireglass. Whispered to be one of the only magical relics to survive the Reckoning, the wielder of this weapon is purportedly without equal while dueling.
The King does not rule completely alone, however. He has a council of seven military and industrial leaders who assist in the day-to-day workings of the kingdom. Each a mighty duelist in their own right, the King’s Council has been unchallenged for the past two decades.
Laws
The backbone of the legal structure of the kingdom is trial by combat. Disputes are most often arbitrated by a single duel between the affected parties. Occasionally, a matter will be too wide-reaching for one combat to decide its fate, and small tournament style dueling brackets are utilized. It is tradition to fight your own battles, but there are enough cases where a proxy is needed that some duelists make their living as combat advocates. Most duels are fought to surrender, or first blood, instead of to the death, though it is not unheard of, just frowned upon, to insist on a deadly duel. Formal duels give the participants days or weeks to prepare, but there are plenty of instances of ‘quick duels’ where they have all the pomp and preparation of a bar fight. These quick duels are legitimate, however, and their results hold up legally.
There is a police force within the kingdom, a branch of the military simply called the Guard. They have the right to make arrests for offenses that are criminal in nature and need to be brought before an official trial. The Guard act as impartial witnesses for most quick duels as a way to legitimize these occurrences. They are also empowered to act as legal dueling proxies if they so choose, if a duel seems to be by their judgment too unfair or overly dangerous.
Organizations and Orders
The School of the Slender Blade: This school teaches that it is not always the strongest duelist that will win the day, but those that are the quickest, the most will most often be victorious. As most duels are fought to first blood you need not remove a limb, but simply slide past their defense.
The Flame Crafters are the only ones who can empower and create new Fireglass items. Fireglass is the name for some of the magically hardened and heat proof crystals that appear in the aftermath of eruptions. Usually these crystals range from arrowhead size to broadsword size and are almost always razor sharp on 2 sides and tapered to needle points. Cultural weapons and other objects are often made from this rare type of obsidian. There are suits of Fireglass scaled ‘armor’ that are used by those who have to work in the smelters. This armor has prevented countless burns and worse in its time. Fireglass crafters have methods to shape parts of the crystals into handles or other features. Fireglass is not often seen outside the kingdom’s borders: stores say that the material loses its sturdiness and edge when taken away from the kingdom, but that might be just a rumor designed to keep the precious substance at home. The method of creating the enormous protective Fireglass structures has been lost, but likely it was possible due to old magics before they were stripped from the land.
The Old Guard are honorable Duelist for hire or volunteer based on income. They understand that not everyone is or will be militant. There will always be those that cannot defend themselves. And they need defending. While they understand and accept the ways of their world, they also understand that it is not always the best for all of their citizens. They take it upon themselves to champion those who would not have a chance at justice. TOG is not an assassin or killer for hire organization, and must believe that you are on the side of honor before they will accept your case.
The Bone Breakers: The Bone Breakers take the term “might makes right ” to heart. Believing that if you are strong enough and can hit your opponent harder than they can hit you, you will prevail. This school of dueling focuses on heavier weaponry, two handed weapons, maces and the like. And the ability to take a blow to give a blow.
Major People
His Majesty Lyle Mekinnin- A young man Barely into his teens, ascended to the throne, and gained possession of Ninon’s Razor at the age of ten after the loss of his Parents and sister due to illness.
Breddes Cormic- Head of the Council is a Descendant of the 1st King Lettis Cormic. Many are of the opinion that he would be a good King, maybe better than the Young untested King of today. But his loyalty to the Crown, the Crags, and the House Mekinnin is unwavering.
Council Member Scheele Doran- One of the newest members of the council and doesn’t seem to have gained too much of a voice. Despite her inexperience she is involved in most of the major discussions and her name is on many of the recent proclamations and reports coming from the Council.
Flame Crafter Merritt Cordell- One of the more well known of the Flame crafters as he was close to the late princess, and was afforded the honor of testing and passing of The Razor to His Majesty at his coronation.
Craige Doran- Uncle to Council member Scheele and 3rd ranking member of The Old Guard. He is the public face of the guard, having served on the Council Guard until a riding accident injured his back.
Relations with Other Nations
Positive relations with Lodur Swamps due to long standing alliances between the two nations. Helped establish and settle Sarova and the alliance between the two City States remains strong.
Often holds dueling tournaments against those of the Ice Crystal Plains which quickly turn into large festivals.
While those from Merkadia aren’t seen as innately evil or bad, there tends to be a distrust of their people due to Merkadia’s aggressive actions of the past.