Gaz F10 The Kingdom of Kaarjala - Vaults of Pandius

SOCIETYThey are generally reclusive and pursue ahunter-gatherer existence, but at leastthree packs herd reindeer. The lupins area very recent arrival to Norwold, cominghere from the Hyborean and Boreancoasts. Encounters with the packs havebeen rare thus far, but there have beenoccurrences of trade with the Viaskodaand the Vaarana clans. Conflicts with thelocal goblins tribes are infrequent, butexceedingly bloody. The lupins havegood relations with the Shonaks in thewest, a legacy of being allied Tribes ofLaw in the old conflicts of the Midlands.Note: Those who use Bruce Heard’sDragon Magazine article on lupin subracesmay consider the lupinkoiranlainento be a variety of Norwold Malamute,known as the Kaarjalan Lapphund. TheLapphunds sport grey, light brown, orwhite fur. The Malamute itself will notexist in GazF Norwold for another two tothree decades.Social StandingIn comparison to many other nations,Kaarjalan society is not highly stratified.Serfdom never existed; commoners,whether they live in villages or in thecountryside, own their own land and areresponsible for its productivity.Commoners historically would contributeto the community in the form of goods orlabor, but in recent centuries this hasevolved into the payment of land taxes.As in other realms, the commoner classis the largest in Kaarjala. It comprises abroad spectrum of occupations, fromfarmers, loggers, trappers, and herdsmenin the country to leather-workers,blacksmiths, carpenters, and othercraftsmen in the villages and towns.The townsfolk are overwhelminglySaamari, and Kaarjalan towns are similarto their southern counterparts with a levelof bustle that is largely absent in the ruralregions. Nevertheless, crucial differencesexist. The largest Kaarjalan settlementsare small by the standards of the KnownWorld, and the “professional” class (e.g.,scribes, accountants, and highlyspecialized trades) are largely absentoutside of the royal court; although this isslowly changing.Above the commoners are several ranksof nobility. At the very bottom is theuntitled noble, or Aatelinen (literally,“noble”). The most common occupantsof this rank are members of fightingorders, but individual heroes have beengranted this rank on numerous occasions.In the case of the former, the honorific isgenerally not hereditary, and its holdersare not considered “true” nobles by thenobility. In the latter case, the rank ishereditary, but it does not come attachedwith a fief.The greater nobility includes the ranksof: Vapaaherra (baron) or Vapaaherratar(baroness), Kreivi (count) or Kreivitär(countess), and Ruhtinas (prince) orRuhtinatar (princess). The princes andprincesses of the royal house are referredto as Prinssi and Prinsessa, respectively.The king is referred to as the Kuningas,the queen the Kuningatar. In the past,ambitious or simply self-important kingsand queens also have referred tothemselves as Keisari (emperor) andKeisarinna (empress). Among the highernobility, a given title is used to addressall male members of the title-holder’sfamily.Kaarjalan nobility arose from a decisionby King Hanno that those who couldafford to maintain at least one soldierwould be exempted from ordinary taxeson one acre of land. Prior to that time theking ruled the realm directly, spendingmuch of his time traveling between hisestates and overseeing his army. Landtaxes were imposed in order to financethe construction and maintenance offortifications and the small river fleet. Asa result of this decision, wealthierlandowners took it upon themselves tomaintain more soldiers, in order to securetax exemptions on larger swaths of land.Thus, the nobility grew from members ofthe peasantry who had enough wealth, orwere able to command enough physicalresources, to maintain soldiers.As the centuries passed, the noblescame to wield considerable economicpower, and they now own large tracts ofland bought from the commoners. Bytradition, they are forbidden from taxingthe land of commoners living under theirjurisdiction, but they may demand goodsor military service in times of crisis.LanguageA number of languages are commonlyheard in Kaarjala and the larger northernregion.Alphatian: Although by no meanscommonly spoken, Alphatian is used by asmall group of Alphan expatriates wholive and work in Kaarja.Hymsprach: Commonly known toother races as Giantish, Hymsprach is thelanguage for all true giant-folk in thenorth (fire and larger).Litoniesu: The Litoniesu minority inKaarja is large and vibrant enough thattheir native tongue is still spoken, and itis the most commonly heard foreignlanguage in Kaarja.Qamuuq: Qamuuq (“our words”) isthe language spoken by the Shonaksinhabiting the eastern Everwinter Lands.Due to historical animosities Qamuuq isseldom heard in Kaarjala, but someVaarana clans make use of it whenconflicts are at low ebb. Qamuuq is aslightly variant dialect of the parentShonak language heard north of the Hilland Dale (Gaz F5 The Western Alliance).Saamari: Saamari is the native tongueof most Kaarjalans, and it is the officiallanguage of court. It is unrelated to anyother Mystaran language except Vaarsu.A dialect is spoken by the people ofItämaa, which is 90% compatible.Vaarsu: This is the language spokenby the Vaarana. It has no written form,although a runic system derived fromboth Ilmarinen and the Antalians is inuse. It is related to Saamari, but centuriesof separation and a measure of Antalianinfluence have made them almostmutually unintelligible. There isconsiderable variation in colloquialVaarsu, with three main dialects, each ofwhich can be divided into at least twosub-dialects. The slow-spoken westerndialects between Kaarja and the Icereachhave 30% compatibility with Saamari;whereas the southern dialects have 30%compatibility with Viaskan-Antalian.Northern Vaarsu – spoken north of theMaanselkä River – is characterized byclipped consonants and a quickintonation.Viaskan: This is the language spokenby the Antalian-descended Viaskodas,commonly called the Northern Bay15