The Heldannic Order - Vaults of Pandius

SOCIETY
“Judge not from appearances. Observe,
listen, seek the truth and what lies in
one's heart, for without this you cannot
fairly judge.”
Hermann Adalard
Races
Those of the Heldannic Territories are
neigh exclusively humans. The native
Heldanners are a hide-bound,
independent lot descended from the
ancient Antalian people of Norwold.
Aside from the brief unification under the
eponymous Heldann the Great,
cooperation among the people never rose
greater than that of the local community.
The greater majority of people wish both
the Knights and the Haldis supporters
would simply go away.
Heldanners are of average height and
build, with fair skin, light hair (blond,
white, gray, or light brown), and blue or
gray eyes. A few sport red hair, and the
rare brunette is seen in the south – likely
from Ethengar heritage. Heldanners
dress for the wet cold using a mix of furs
and slickers.
The Heldanners are found throughout
the region from the coast to the
mountains. Those of the Altenwald and
“Heldland” are also of Heldanner stock,
though most prefer to be called
Nordurlandic.
A small barbarian nation continues to
persist in the central Sudbergen.
Tradition holds that they are troll-born,
children of Hymir, who came from the
depths of the Ostbergen. It is true that
the troll-born barbarians are large – they
average 6’4” – but to the Knights and
other outsiders they are ethnically
indistinguishable from other Heldanners.
The troll-born have adopted a seminomadic
existence in the rocky hills.
They use loose rocks and shale to
construct hovels and graze sheep and
horses on the weak grass.
The barbarians historically pillaged
their fellow Heldanners and were a
second fount of trouble for the Knights
during the occupation. Earlier this
decade, many barbarians were driven into
Ethengar, where they were massacred.
Thus far, those who remain have avoided
irritating the Order. The troll-born dress
in heavy wool apparel and wolf furs, but
they go bare-chested in the summer
months.
The transplant Heldannic Knights are
composed of Hattians, Thyatians, and
Kerendans, though the last two groups
are marginal. As a cosmopolitan people,
the Thyatians, and to a lesser extent the
Kerendans, no longer evidence a
common appearance. They can have any
skin tone or hair color.
In contrast, the Hattians have ever been
more insular. They have a light olive
skin, and their hair runs light to dark
brown or black, with blue, grey or even
brown eyes. Vestigial traces of the
Storm’s embittered hatred remain among
the Knights. Xenophobic expression runs
from a neutral indifference to aggression.
The Knights’ initial poor treatment of
others created difficulty for subsequent
diplomatic overtures that continues to
this day.
Non-Humans
Representatives of the demihuman
races do exist within the Heldannic
Territories. They face the same grating
Hattian attitude that plagues native
Heldanners. Heldannic law makes no
distinction between the races, but
variance in treatment can be seen in the
courts of several judges. A few nonhumans
have joined the Order, but they
are the anomalous exception.
Dwarves, halflings, and gnomes have
ghettoes in Freiburg. These communities
predate the conquest. The halflings speak
an odd mix of Heldannic and Lalor, the
ancient hin tongue. The Noostik gnomes
are descendants of those who fled the last
gnomish outposts such as Torkyn Fall.
The Kuldwarf dwarves are a Syrklistderived
clan that established a trading
post in old Haldisvall during Rockhome’s
northern colonizations.
Elves in Freiburg are likely Vyalian
visitors, but a handful of these Thyatian
elves have joined the Order. The town of
Grauenberg receives trade visits from
Glantri’s Belcadiz and Erewan elves. All
other elves encountered in Heldann are
Genalleth elves of Wendar.
A grudging respect is given to the
tested dwarves, but elves, halflings, and
humanoids are held up as heretical, soft,
3
and vile, respectively. Though they
would deny it, the Knights have been
perplexed by the Wendarian elves ever
since they encountered their western
neighbors. For the Knights, the
traditional model of the elf was the
Vyalian forester whose devotion to
Ilsundal generated an intrinsic reproach
among the Vanya-faithful. But the
Wendarian elves were a people with a
history of conquest, cooperation and
competition with humans, and a
decidedly non-Ilsundal philosophy – if
any at all. The Realm absorbed many
refugees who fled the Knights during the
conquest. This slowed diplomatic
contacts, but formal relations between the
two powers were eventually reached.
Curiously, the Knights have had good
rapport with the lupins of the Savage
Coast, particularly those disaffected with
the “civilized” Renardois culture.
Perhaps two hundred lupins now reside in
Heldann. A group about half that size
left Heldann to take up life around
Landfall.
Language
The humans of the Territories speak
either the Hattian accent of Thyatian or
Heldannic. The latter is considered by
some to be very close to the ancestral
Antalian tongue, and it is not uncommon
to see it (mistakenly) listed as such. The
language of the Northern Reaches,
Northman, is 85% mutually intelligible
with Heldannic.
Heldannic is frowned upon by the
Knights, and they have banned formal
instruction in the language. As yet, they
have not also banned family instruction.
Thyatian is the official language of the
Territories, and it is used in all formal
declarations, laws and speeches.
A smattering of other languages –
Dwarvish, Elvish, Gnomish, Renardois,
Alphatian, even Ethengarian – can be
heard in some quarters of Freiburg.
Social Standing
Ostensibly, there are only two social
classes within the Territories: those in the
Order and those outside of it. In practice,
these two groups have further gradations,
and racial considerations can shift