Wild:PC/Brilla/Island
Baradin
Population: 78,500 (84% karsite, 6% human, 4% dwarf, 3% elf, 3% other)
Government: Timocracy
Religion: Ancestral Worship (Where most of the karsite draw their power)
Exports: Books, gold, wine, wool,
Imports: Clay, grain
Alignment: CG, NG, N
Geography
Baradin is a temperate island that enjoys summers that sit at 80 degrees while at winter the temperature drops to about 40 degrees. Average rainfall is about 22 inches a year. The 6,703 square miles of the island consist of mostly flat land, though there is the occasional hill and 48 square miles of this covered by lakes and rivers. The land is of good quality for crops, though the aftermath of the Demonsiege has left scars on the landscape where still nothing will grow.
The capital of the island is known as the Hall of Founders; a structure created by Sergei Liathurs. Though it sounds like a peaceful place of contemplation, it is actually a fort that withstood the Demonsiege many years ago. Here is where most of Baradin's standing army is stationed and where High-elder Churgin resides.
History
Baradin was once a peaceful island that was one of the most prosperous in the known land. Now it is a nation recovering from a betrayal conjured from the depths of hell.
700 years ago, Amon ruled over the island with a gentle hand. Sadly, though, his wife passed away during the birth of his fourth child. He took up a new wife that quickly won his heart. Soon after he married her, his age betrayed his health and he soon died. Upon inspecting his will, he left the kingdom to his new wife. She soon claimed the kingdom as her own and revealed herself to be a succubus, claiming the island for the hells. Demons soon descended upon the island.
Wars were fought over the next 500 years over control of the island. This war was not fought alone, though, as the neighbouring islands came to their aid. Dwarves and elves lent their steel and arrows, while merfolk in the sea helped along the coast. Though the aid was great, the battle was soon to be lost.
Sergei, a general of the Baradin army at the time, concocted a risky tactic with the help of the Triad. He gathered all of the magically gifted that yet survived and brought them to the Hall of Founders. A ritual was done that stripped the magic from everyone. This raw magic was then wielded as a weapon against all those with a spark of magic, destroying them utterly. Since that day, not a single person could manifest magic again. This ritual was so strong, in fact, that even the descendants of the survivors are unable to access any magic.
It has been 200 years since the Demonsiege and the people of Baradin are still recovering. Alliances are strained and resources are thin. Churgin stepped up during this time and decided to make a powerful sacrifice. He hired a group of clerics from a far away isle to perform a ritual on him to make him deathless so that he can keep his vigilant watch over the island without outside temptation.
Culture
The people of Baradin have always had strong ties to their ancestors, and hold them above any god. With an absence of magic in their society, they cling even harder to these ancestral ties.
When a native of Baradin executes an epic feat, they are to enter the Hall of Founding to go to trial for judgement. If they are judged to have executed tremendous power and good will, they are to be sacrificed by one in their family so that their power may be drawn on. Despite how barbaric and grizzly this seems to many outside cultures, the act of being sacrificed to joins one ancestors and be drawn on for strength by those that still live is considered to be one of the greatest honours.
