- Politics:
- Darokin is a plutocracy - he who has the money makes the rules. In
fact, it is expected that people who can make money are obviously
good at management, so they are the ones that have to run the country.
Darokin is divided into the Heartlands and the Borderlands. The
Heartlands (or just heart) is the civilised part of Darokin - the
countryside is mostly farms, croplands and pastureland. This area
is run from the largest nearby town or city; each of which has a
city Council, made up of the most wealthy nobles.
The Borderlands, on the other hand, are far more feudal. Each
area is called a Magistracy, run by a magistrate (effectively
a Baron). The magistrates have almost absolute authority
over their area, as long as they do not break the laws of Darokin,
and they swear fealty directly to the Inner Council.
- Society:
- Darokin society breaks up into vague classes, colliqually called
Copper, Silver, Gold and Elite. Most country folk are copper class,
most townsmen are silver. The upper class, rich merchants, those
from the major Houses and Magistrates are usually gold class, whilst
Elite is the members of the Great Twelve Houses who dominate
Darokin society.
Darokin has a strong work-ethic; the story of a young copper man
who rose to become a gold merchant is trite in Darokin. It is
generally believed that anyone who puts their heads down and works
hard is certain to better themselves. To some degree, those that
join Companies are held in a mixed respect and contempt - respect
for their ability and renowned bravery, and contempt that they have
tried to buck the system by 'get rich quick' methods.
- Racial and Cultural makeup
- Darokin's culture is a mishmash of the various surrounding cultures,
plus its own individual feel. The actual feel of the culture is a mix
of renaissance Italy and Switzerland.
The culture leans towards finesse and negotiation over brute force and
strength. The members of the Darokin Diplomatic Core, one of the
most important and pervasive parts of the government, act as
mediators, diplomats, judges and an intelligence agents.
Darokin has long been the mixing pot of refugees from the surrounding
countries along the coastline, and as such is now a mishmash of cultures
and racial types.
- Native Darokin
A mythical person in many respects, the native racial makeup is mostly
a mishmash of the refugees who have fled there, and it is rare for
inhabitants of the eastern plains not to proudly claim heritage from
at least one of the surrounding cultures.
In the west, there is some prestige in being able to trace your
heritage back to the days of the Darokin Kings, 6 or 7 centuries
ago. The people of this area tend towards tanned skin, light eyes
and dark hair.
- Traladaran
Traladarans tend to be fairly small (men average 5' 9'', woman 5' 3'')
and light of build. They tend to have pale complexions which burn easily,
brown eyes and dark hair (deep brown to black). The Traladarans originated
from the forests of Karameikos to the south of Darokin. Most recently,
many native Traladarans fled the Thyatian invasion of their country
30 years ago. The traditional Traladara culture is similar in many ways
to medieval Eastern Europe.
- Ylari/Alasiyani
Ylari descendants tend to have tan to brown skin, although some
few have an almost yellow tint and others may be almost black. The
men are as tall as Thyatians normally, but Alasiyan women are
smaller than their Thyatian counterparts. Their eyes are brown or
darker colours. Many of the Ylari descendents in Darokin fled
their country, the great desert to the east, when the Thyatians
and Alphatians invaded 400 years ago.
- Thyatians
Thyatians tend to be physically larger than Traladarans, men
averaging around 5' 11'' and women 5'5''. The Thyatians have had
centuries to interbreed with other nations and so there is no one
Thyatian look; hair ranges from dark blonde to dark brown, with
occasional redheads; eye color ranges from blues to browns and
blacks. Thyatians tan more easily in the sun, and often have a
slight olive cast to their skin. The Thyatian tongue is one of the
most common languages across the continent and their culture
influences the entire area, from religion to calendar. The Thyatian culture
bears some similarity to the Roman empire at its height. The
Thyatian empire is to the south east of Darokin.
- Alphatians
The Alphatian empire is an ancient enemy of the Thyatian Empire,
and the two have contested for a thousand years. From across the
eastern sea, the Alphatians have two main racial groups within
themselves. The first and most common are the common Alphatians.
These people average out at 5'8'' in height and tend to have
bronze or brownish skin. Their hair colours range from brown
through to auburn through to strawberry blond, and their eyes
are usually brown, although some few common Alphatians have green
eyes.
The pure Alphatians on the other hand are tall, averaging 6' for
men and 5'10'' for females. They have a very pale skin, alabaster,
with blue tints. Hair colour is black of various shades, and
their eyes may be black or brown.
The Alphatian culture is similar in some ways to Ancient Greece,
and they hold magical ability in very high regard.
- Other racial types
Glantri - bronze skinned, brown eyed, dark red hair (like the
common alphatians, but don't point that out).
Vestlanders, Ostlanders - vaguely viking like cultures north of
Alasiyani desert (Ylaruam)
Atruaghin - vaguely amerind looking.
- Language
- There are a number of dialects and languages spoken in Darokin
and many people speak more than one language, chopping and changing
as is appropriate.
Daro itself is fairly predominate, but like English, it tends to
absorb words from other languages quickly. It is the language of
official documents and contracts.
Traladaran is spoken in the east of Darokin, mostly among the immigrants
from what is now Karameikos. It is a complex language and not easy to
pick up for non-native speakers.
Thyatian is spoken by a large number of people as a vaguely common
language across this part of the world, encouraged by the Thyatian
belief that it is the only tongue fit for their mouths. Speakers
of other languages find it a bit heavy and filled with awkward
grammatical rules.
Alasiyani is the language of Ylaruam, although there are as many
dialects as there are camps in the desert. It is analagous to
Arabic, and is a common language in Selenica where many of the
residents and visitors originate from Ylaruam.
Elves and Dwarves have their own languages but often pick up one
or two human languages if they commonly interact with humans. Elves
favour Daro or Traladaran and dwarves seem to prefer the preciseness
of Thyatian.
- Economics
- Standard D&D economy - miles too much gold. There are a
series of coins in Darokin - the mauntean (or just tean (te-ans)) which
is a small gold coin; the daro, a silver coin about the size of a 50c
piece; the tentrid (another silver coin, about the size of a 10c piece);
and passem (or penny), a bronze coin.
1 tean is worth 10 daro, 100 tentrid and 1000 passem. Daro and tentrid
are the most common coins. Amongst the great merchants, and quickly filtering
down is the idea of the 'Certified Letter of Credit' (cloc) - half
way between a cheque and a bank note.
Darokin's economy is based on food production - the western plains
are some of the most fertile in the world. Exciting? No. So I will
dwell no further.