Prandia

"Prandia - the hidden continent

"(I have tried to keep this as vague as possible, as I feel that it can only really become part of the community that is RPGWW if the community themselves help shape it. ~Blaze)

"Hidden from the rest of Gaera by the unforgiving currents of the Shattered Sea (located South of the Val'Ri Sea and the Ocean of T'naera), the continent of Prandia has been the source of many legends in Doma and the other countries of Igala. It is said by many that Prandia is the home of a race of semi-divine beings that hold the power of life and death, having in their control the mythic Chamber of Time. Many rash and reckless or merely brave adventurers have set out to find Prandia, but none have returned. It is told that they either fell victim to the harsh currents and winds of the Shattered Sea, or to some fell creature that dwell in the murky deeps there.

"The truth of the matter is far less exciting. While the Shattered Sea has claimed many lives, some have successfully navigated it, and Prandia was colonised back beyond the memory of most now living. The natives of Prandia are far from divine, and whilst there is every chance that if the Chamber of Time existed then it could very well be located there, there is no more proof to say it is in Prandia than anywhere else in Gaera.

"And all the natives want is to be left alone.

"Welcome to the hidden continent.

"~R
"Geography of Prandia

"Prandia is a large continent to the southwest of Doma, beyond the Val'Ri and Shattered Seas and the Ocean of T'naera. It is almost impossible to reach via conventional means, as it is separated from the rest of the world by the strong currents and powerful winds of the Shattered Sea. Any captain willing to brave it at the risk of both his ship and the lives of his crew had better be sure of his decision, as there is a very real chance neither will survive the journey.

"Assuming a daring captain and his crew brave the Shattered Sea and survive, the first thing they'll find on the other side are looming coastal cliffs, stretching in both directions as far as the eye can see. If they carry on sailing and follow the cliffs, eventually, after a journey of possibly months, depending on the direction they choose, they will eventually find the Western (and only) opening in the outer cliff wall, and pass through into Merché Trosi, the Sea of Lost Light. This is a wall of water separating the outer cliff wall and the actual landmass of Prandia. To the north is a bridge shaped by nature, which spans the gulf between the two landmasses, allowing passage between the two.

"The Sea of Lost Light's depth has never been measured, though it is known to be incredibly so, despite its misleading nature. During the day, you can see its bed, leading many to believe it to be shallow. The resulting fables are where it derived its name.

"Prandia's climate is temperate, and sees a lot of rain over the course of a year. Therefore, droughts are rare: surrounded as it is by the sea, and with the hydrological cycle taking place all the time, Prandia tends to get a good soaking more often than not. Not that the natives have any cause to complain, of course. Isolated as they are, they need all the crops they can get, and are thankful for the rainfall. Another advantage of Prandia's location is the outer cliff wall, which protects Prandia from some of the more destructive aspects of the elements. However, when a strong wind comes in from the west, there is always a chance of typhoons occurring, and the western opening only serves to make the winds stronger. Luckily, a large percentage of Prandia is well above water level, meaning the typhoons are less severe when they strike.

"The majority of Prandia is open plains and arable farmland, and a large percentage of the continent is forested, too. The centre of the continent is mainly mountainous. It is here, nestled between the outstretched arms of two mountain ranges (The Black Mountains and the Prandian Mountains) where lies the capital city, Alessia. The capital city was named after the founder and first Queen of the Prandian nation.

"Prandia is split into eight provinces, each of which is the domain of one of the eight Lords. In the centre of Prandia, at the capital city of Alessia, the King or Queen of the entire continent make their home.

"The Provinces

"The eight provinces are:

    * Baarador, which is consists of the stretch of coast directly opposite the opening in the barrier wall. Baarador has a booming fishing industry, as well as perfect soil for farming further inland, and provides both fish and crops for the continent. The capital city of Baarador is Balia.
    * Naadore, which is to the right of Baarador, along the north coast. It has very similar industries to Baarador, though the majority is in farming, rather than in fishing. To the north of Naadore lies the natural bridge which spans the gap between the outer wall and the inner continent. The Naadorans are in charge of manning the watchtowers along the expanse of the outer wall. The capital city of Naadore is Lerian
    * Zerrat, in the middle of which is an area of neutral land in which lies Alessia. Zerrat is in the center of Prandia, though its northern border is on the Sea of Lost Light. The majority of both the Prandian and Black mountain ranges can be found within Zerrat, as well as the sources of the Rivers Naei, Shee and Bane. The rest of the land in Zerrat is mainly arable farmland. The Zerratians are famous for their airship building industry. The capital city of Zerrat is Venca.
    * Loredan, which lies on the Northwest coast. Loredan is a heavily forested land, and home of many of the elves of Prandia. The Loredanians are renowned horse breeders, and their horses are unrivaled throughout Prandia. They are also masters at training other beasts of burden, pets, and even exotic creatures such as hippogriffs and gryffons. The people of Lordan also tend many orchards in addition to their small farming industry, and their fruit finds it way all over the continent. The capital city of Loredan is Risenell
    * Bajöre, which lies on the southeast coast, surrounding the realm of Gharsh. The Bajörans are given the task of watching the great wall, in case the Bodûn threat should ever rise again. In recent years they have become very lax in their task. The capital city of Bajöre is Kael.
    * Vardie, which lies on the southern coast, is the home of the Academy of Light, the continent of Prandia's premier institute for the training of those adept in the magical arts. The mages of Vardie command respect from all the people of the continent. The capital city of Vardie is Nissae.
    * Vaan, which lies on the southwest coast, and whose people are the undisputed masters of all things to do with the sea. Prandia's main fishing industry can be found here. Also, many blue mages hail from this province. The capital city of Vaan is Oriana
    * Merill, which is the home of the continent's main farming industry, being as it is mainly arable farmland. The capital city of Merill is Venael.

"Other geographical landmarks include The Black Mountains, the Prandian Mountains, The Bone Mountains, and Prandia's three main rivers: the River Bane, the River Naei, and the River Shee.

"There are actually nine realms within Prandia, the ninth (on the southeast coast) is the small realm of Gharsh. This is the home of the Bodûn, a race which made their home here before the settlers came. The race as a whole is evil, and they wage a constant war against those they consider the "invaders," even though the Prandians came in search of peace and the Bodûn were the aggressors. The Bone Mountains and the mouth of the River Bane are both located in Gharsh.

"History of Prandia

"(The following is the history of Prandia by Prandian reckoning. I'll have to team up with someone else to establish the exact times at which these occurred by Doman reckoning, etc. The timeline begins at PY 1 (1st Prandian Year).)
PY
	
Event
01
	
Prandia discovered by Alessia, leader of the settlers.
01
	
Settlers resisted by the Bodûn. The settlers begin to gain ground.
03
	
Prandians (as they have now taken to being called) own fully half of the continent of Prandia.
03-04
	
Strongholds built to fortify the Prandians' positions. The Bodûn are forced back to their ancestral homeland of Gharsh.
05
	
One of the strongholds, Alessia, becomes the Prandian's capital city.
06-07
	
The eight provinces and an hierarchy is established. Prandia is a democracy, and everyone in a province can vote for whom they wish to be that province's Lord after every eight-year period. Everyone in Prandia has to vote for whom they wish to be the new Emperor or Empress when the old one dies.
10
	
Alessia orders that a great wall be built between Prandia and Gharsh. Workers constantly under attack from the Bodûn, and progress is slow.
12
	
The great wall completed, and for the most part prevents the Bodûn threat from entering Prandia. Small incursions quickly repelled.
13
	
An era of relative peace begins. Prandia becomes very prosperous.
121
	
The Bodûn, whom have been gathering strength, launch an assault on Prandia, destroying the great wall in the process. At almost the same time, a pirate fleet from the lands to the north discovers the hidden land. With enemies to both the East and West, Prandia's forces rally under the banner of the current King, Daranolór.
126
	
A long, bloody, and bitter war ensues. Hemmed in on both sides, the Prandian forces unite and set all of their forces against the pirates of the north. That threat is soon destroyed, though at the cost of many lives, and the Prandians turn their attention to the Bodûn, who are raping and pillaging every settlement in the West.
130
	
Daranolór declares that any Bodûn found on Prandian soil must be exterminated, and their pestilence removed from his land. The great elven king leads his men in the battle at the walls, which took place at the ruins of the great wall, and saw the combined might of all of Prandia facing off against the savage warriors of Gharsh. The battle was terrible to behold, with neither side giving or asking any quarter. The screams and wails of the dying and the harsh cries of the living mingled in an unholy cacophony with the clash and ring of steel upon steel in the air, never ceasing for eight days of fierce battle. Fireballs flew from one end of the battlefield to the other, as the magically gifted tested their mettle along side warriors and archers, who sent arrows falling down on the enemy like a cloud of buzzing flies.
130
	
Daranolór leads the last route of the Bodûn from the land, but the price for his victory is heavy. Both he and his two sons fall in the effort.
131
	
In the wake of the destruction, Prandia once again begins to find its feet for another prosperous and peaceful period lasting many hundreds of years. The great wall is rebuilt, as Gharsh has become a harsh and barren land, no good for planting or grazing, as a direct result of the magical duels fought there.

"Life in Prandia

"The lifestyles of the people of Prandia vary drastically. The lower classes spend most of their lives in the fields or on the water, working for their living, whilst the ruling class may live in the lap of luxury - however, in Prandia, it isn't rare for a ruler to live like his people. People from different provinces also each have different lifestyles - the people of Loredan are quite content to sleep out under the stars with no shelter but the trees, for example, whilst the people of Zerrat are more at home in houses of stone. "Never judge a book by its cover" is a saying of which definitely applies to Prandia - without looking deep inside its inner workings, you could be forgiven for thinking that life there is simple. You would be very wrong to think so, however. Everything has a structure of some sort, and there are procedures which must be followed in almost all situations.

"Goverment and Law

"Prandia is a democracy, and everyone in a given province can vote for whom they wish to be that province's Lord after every eight-year period. Everyone in Prandia has the ability to vote for whom they wish to be the new Emperor or Empress when the old one dies. When a crime has been committed, any evidence that can be found is put before an impassive jury taken from all classes of people, whom then decide whether the accused is innocent or guilty. If no evidence can be found, they rely on spoken word alone -which may seem to be unjust, but the people of Prandia have a tendency to be very shrewd, and are usually very adept at spotting a liar. This way of thinking is quite radical, but it has served the people of Prandia well ever since its founding.

"The people of Prandia are allowed freedom of speech, to an extent. If it is clear that allowing it to continue could destroy the very balance of Prandia and possibly even cause such terrible things as civil wars, the ruling class reserves the right to suppress it. Indeed, sometimes even those of the lower social classes take it upon themselves to prevent such dangerous speech, not wanting to destroy the balance of which they have striven to maintain for so long.

"Languages

"Prandia has two languages, Prandian and High Prandian. Prandian is similar to the common language of Igala, as the ancestors of the current Prandians hailed from this continent. People of the two continents can understand each other, though with some difficulty. High Prandian is most commonly used when naming things and in magic, where it is considered a more beautiful form of speech than the rough and ready Prandian language.

"The Monetary System

"The monetary system of Prandia also hails from their Igalan ancestors, though it hasn't remained quite the same. The Golden Empire is the most valuable coin. The full names for the coins are the Copper Realm, the Bronze Province, the Silver Kingdom, and the Golden Empire, though the names are generally just shortened to Coppers, Bronze pieces, Silver pieces, and Gold pieces.

"120 coppers = 60 bronze pieces = 12 silver pieces = 1 gold piece

"Natives of Prandia

"Many races are native to Prandia -- the philosophy of those who founded it was to prevent racial and social prejudice. There are humans, elves, dwarves, etc. All of which share most of the same characteristics as those of Igala. The one native of Prandia currently known that is not also native to Igala is the Bodûn. Statistics for a standard Bodûn can be found below.

"Bodûn

"Description: 'A cloaked figure the size of a man, the Bodûn stares at you with large, orange eyes from within the shadow of its hood. It reaches out towards you with a clawed hand and clenches it, at the same time muttering harshly in its own language, and with its other hand withdrawing a long, curved blade from beneath its cloak.'

"Religion

"On the whole, Prandians tend not to be religious. This is not to say that they are religiously intolerant – they acknowledge the existence of deities, but see no reason to worship them, on the basis that “if you don’t mess with the deities, then the deities won’t mess with you.”

"There are religious Prandians, however – these are usually descendants of religious families that sailed with Alessia’s fleet to Prandia. They are a minority, but are no less respected for it.

"The generally accepted story of creation in Prandia is that of the Ishtaran church. A large percentage of the religious Prandians belong to this church. Many rural communities have shrines to Mekk, Lord of the Earth and/or Sarahane, Water’s Lady.

"Games

"Dariaténa Elementia

"Dariaténa Elementia is High Prandian for “Element War”.

"It is a simple card game which utilises two decks of 54 cards. More complex house rules have been developed for private use and in tournaments, but only the main rules and some simpler house rules are provided here.

"Each deck is divided into five “families”, four of 13 cards, one of 2 cards.

"The four families of 13 cards correspond to the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

"The 2-card family represents an amalgamation of all four elements, Gaia.

"The 13 card families are ranked from 1-13; the higher the rank of the card, the more powerful it is.

"Both players shuffle their decks, and divide them into four piles, placing the cards face down.

"At this point it should be noted that each player has a pool of 20 “health” points.

"The game is played in rounds – each round both players simultaneously choose one of their four piles, and take the top card off that pile, turning it over.

"Whoever has the lowest ranking card loses one of their health points.

"There is one other factor that affects the outcome of the round, and that is the elements of the card.

"The elements have the following properties:

      Air is strong against Water. Water is strong against Fire. Fire is strong against Earth. Earth is strong against Air. 

"The validity of these statements is not an issue. For the purposes of the game, all the above four statements are true, regardless of whether they are, in fact, truth.

"If one player’s card is of an element strong against his opponent’s card (ie. Water > Fire), his card is counted as having a value 2 ranks above its own.

"Example:

"Dave’s card is a Water 3. Elizabeth’s card is a Fire 4. Dave’s card is strong against Elizabeth’s, and thus is considered a Water 5. Therefore, Dave wins the round, and Elizabeth loses a health point.

"A Gaia card automatically beats an elemental card.

"In the case of a tied round, neither player loses a health point, and the next round is begun.

"The first person to lose all 20 health loses.

"In the extremely rare instance of players running out of cards, their cards are simply reshuffled and they start over, maintaining the health they were left with before they ran out of cards.

"House Rules

"Common house rules are as follows:

      - In the case of a tie, both players lose one health point. - A strong card is considered as having a value 3 ranks above its own. - A player may buy back one health point by discarding the top cards of all four of their piles. Using this house rule, the rules governing the running out of cards must be reconsidered. 

"They remain as they have already been stated, but if one player runs out of cards before his opponent, he automatically loses the game.

"How to play Dariaténa Elementia with a standard deck of cards.

"Each player’s deck consists of a pack of playing cards, including jokers.

      Diamonds = Air Hearts = Fire Clubs = Water Spades = Earth Jokers = Gaia 

"Aces represent rank 1 elemental cards, Jacks are rank 11 cards, Queens are rank 12 cards, and Kings rank 13 cards.

"Barrelball

"Originally a rural game, Barrelball is played on a 50 ft. by 50 ft. pitch with a round ball. Typically played with four players on a team –

      One Attacker One Defender One “Free Agent” One Coil 

"Exactly why the last postion is called the coil is no longer known – the prevalent theory compares the player to a coiled snake, tensed to strike.

"Two barrels are placed in opposing corners of the square, and the square is split diagonally by a chalk line. The defenders must stay in the half nearest to their barrels, and the attackers stay in the opposing half. Crossing the line results in a foul (See below). The free agent begins the game anywhere he chooses on the halfway line, and can move freely between the two halves of the pitch. A neutral referee also begins on the halfway line – at the start of the game he tosses the ball into the air, and from then on is free to move about the pitch. He may leave the boundaries of the pitch if he so wishes.

"A point is scored every time the ball is placed or thrown into the opposing team’s barrel. “Own goals” are possible, and indeed teams are penalised for doing this – the opposing team gets two points, not one, for every own goal.

"If the ball is thrown, dropped, or carried out of the square by one team, the other is awarded a throw-in from that point. Throw-ins are ALWAYS taken by the free agent, who may pass to any other player.

"Tackles can consist of any method that isn’t being used with intent to harm the player being tackled. If the referee deems that a tackling player was intending to harm an opponent, he awards the opponent’s team a foul.

"Fouls are awarded to a team if the opposing team’s attacker or defender cross the halfway line, or if a member of the opposing team tackles a member of that team with the intent to harm the player. The team can choose to be awarded one of three things:

      A) Possession of the ball, if they don’t already have it. The free agent is given the ball, regardless of where he is currently standing. B) Transfer of the ball from one player to another. Any player may be given the ball except for the coil. C) A free, unopposed shot at the opposing team’s barrel by whomever currently possesses the ball. 

"A team’s coil stands 15 ft. behind the opposing team’s barrel in a chalk circle. A pass to the coil is the ONLY exception to the throw-in rule, assuming they catch the ball. Once in possession, the coil attempts to score. If they do, their team is awarded 5 points.

"A typical game lasts half an hour.

"Barrelball is gaining popularity throughout Prandia – it is rumoured that even the Prince enjoys a game.

"A variation of Barrelball has been developed in Vardie. A pitch twice the size of a normal Barrelball pitch is split into quarters, and four teams play. Teams can score in any opposing team’s barrel, but only have a coil at the barrel opposite their own. Such games are high paced, frantic affairs, and usually require more than one referee."

-- Blaze