The Kingdom of Seattile

[seattile]

I will put in a brief history, key facts, and other stuff about the Kingdom of Seattile. If you have any commets/questions feel free to ask. Also most information on creatures and other mystical stuff are based mostly on medieval folklore (but their are some modern versons).

[seattile]

The Kingdom of Seattile is not one of the most unifed kingdoms in the world. The north does not always know whats going on in the south, and there have been a total of four civil wars in its history (after the unification). But on the bright side, Elves and Dwarfs have the same rights as the more dominatment Humans. The kingdom could be split into two parts, the north where its people are known for their ships and in the south where they are always fighting against dragons in the mountains and the many werewolves in the nearby forests. The capital of Seattile is Denerim, which is in the northen part of the kingdom.

The Kingdom of Seattile was once a territory of another kingdom which it has only recently been free of, about 20 years ago. Even though it was only one kingdom that took over their lands, Seattilans distrust most other nations. Seattile is actually composed of two kingdoms. Underneath the mountian range (Frostback Mountians) in the southern lands is a Dwarven city named Orzammar, and is the only city the Dwarves in Seattile call their own. Sometime after Seattile's liberation, the Dwarves became vassles to Seattile. Orzammar is the last city of a large dwarven kingdom that was lost to a large goblen horde.

The Humans in Seattile are desendents of sailers, hunters, and 'wildfolk' (barbarians). They are studborn but noble, they are slow to trust outsiders, as their lands have always been fought over and taken by others, but when others gain their trust, the men of Seattile will defend their friends like their own. They are unique in how they treat their dogs, mainly their wolfhounds, that acording to legend are smart enough to talk and wise enough not too. Anyone who has a wolfhound deserves respect, as it is said in Seattile "a owner does not pick their wolfhound but it is a wolfhound who picks their owner". This is known as "imprinting".

The Dwarves in Seattile are like most dwarves, they are short and are tough warriors. But unlike most dwarves their beards aren't the most important thing to them. As there have been dwarves who shave their beards. Plus humans can tell the diffrence between a female and male Dwarf from Orzammar. But aside from the dwarves that shave their beards, they have strict caste system, where the lowest are the Castless who must have a "S" tattoed to their face sometime after their birth or when they commit a crime. But the worst thing the Dwarves of Orzammar have to face is the hordes of goblens that took control of their vast empire that were conected by tunnels known as "Deep Roads"

The Elves in Seattile mainly live in small tribes in the Northeast forests, and are some of the best archers in the kingdom. But some Elves live in the poorer areas of human cities. Most elves have tales about a kingdom they used to control in the eastern part of Seattile that was taken over thousands of years ago.


Unifcation
Seattile had been around for a long time but was not unified until Teyrn Calenhad Theirin, the first Sliver Knight, unified the nobles of Seattile almost eight centuries ago. In the decades before the "Unifcation", Seattile has been the site of many battles between the local Banns, Arls and Teryns. Before the Unifcation the two most powerful cities were Denerim and Highever. Teyrn Calenhad ruled Denerim and several other cities while Teyrna Elethea Cousland ruled Highever and much of the surrounding land. Calenhad was vastly outnumbered since most people thought he was just some tyrant trying to take over Seattile but he was able to defeat the Teyrna and since he only wanted to unifie Seattile Calenhad aloud his former enemies to keep their lands and titles if they swear fealty to him.

The Dark Ages
A century after the Unifcation, the first Werewolves came to Seattile. The legends say that these Werewolves were spirits or demons that were trap in the bodies of normal wolves, and their bodies started to change to become more man than wolf. These Werewolves were able to spread into the lands outside of Seattile. For years the Kingdom of Seattile was fighting a uphill battle until a group of smiths and knights were able to make strong weapons from the silver that is found in many of the mines in Seattile. Most Seattilans think it is because of them that werewolves in are few in number in the northen kingdoms of Middle Trav Khar .

War of the Black Dragon
200 hundred years after the "Dark Ages" a horde of goblins led by a powerful black dragon and over a dozen other dragons invaded the Dwarven Deep Roads and captured and sacked several of their cities causeing the the Dwarves to seek help from the surface. This was the time when the order of Dragon Slayers were formed to slay dragons and it was made of all kinds of people from former Templars to Mages to Raiders if one could slay a dragon then one could join their ranks. The Dragons that led this invasion were known to take the form of men. Most of these dragons could only be traped in statues for they were to powerful for most. There are rumors that a order known as "the Order of the Black Dragon" is trying to release these dragons to wreack havok on the world..


Occupation
Over a century ago a nation invaded Seattile by land and sea. These invaders were vast in numbers and the vastness of the invading force has caused some Seattilans to think that more than one nation invaded them. But this was not the only thing that caused the Kingdom of Seattile to fall. These invaders were at first thought to be friendily and the king of Seattile at the time invited the leaders of the invaders to Denerim. So while the leaders were meeting with the King of Seattile, the armies of the invaders attacked most of the cities on the coast and border cities like Ostagar. Once the king heard about the attacks he was killed, stabed in the back by a Bann from Dragons Peak, the closest human city to Orzammar. This Bann's name has been lost to history but all that is known is that he and his whole family were later killed by "rebels". The occupation lasted for about a century.


Map of the Kingdom of Seattile



Gray circles= Silver Knight forts
Large Black circles= Cites & Fortests
Small Black circles= Villages & Towns
Orange circle= Orzammar (Underground)

(Sorry about the diffrence in color in certain parts, like the diffrence with parts of the southren red line. It is easy to make mistakes in photobucket)

Civil War

[austinset]

sounds like heavan for Kardas since he has a dragon XD

[seattile]

The Seattile military
The military of Seattile consist of undisciplined and disciplined soldiers. But also makes use of "man's best friend". Long ago a group of mages breed a group of dogs with werewolves (or so the ledgends say), and the result was the Seattilan Wolfhound. A dog that can understand the most complex plans and has the best smelling, hearing, and fighting skills for any dog. People from defrent lands would notice that Seattile smells like wet dog, as nothing is more important to them than their wolfhounds. There are even more hounds then there are Dwarves in Seattile. A Wolfhound is also a symbol of power in Seattile, the more hounds a noble has, the higher their rank.

The most famous military orders in the Seattile Kingdom are the Templars and the Silver Knights. The Templars are the most powerful of the military orders and are incharge of most of the banks in Seattile. Their main job is to hunt down any rouge mages that use dark magic, and if anyone is caught using Necromacy (Summoning of the dead and controling them or anything like that) and Blood Magic, are killed on site. Blood Magic is the most hated of all the dark magics in Seattile, for it uses blood as a power soruce, and is considered the magic of Demons. The Templars armed with training spaning centuries and their unshakeable faith are one of the mosted feared, respected, and powerful forces in Middle Trav Khar.

A averge Templar Knight

Silver Knights
The second order is the Silver Knights, who as the name says wear a form of silver known as Silverite which is the same armor the Templars wear because it is enchanted silver that is not only a weapon against werewolves, but is also resistant to magic. The Silver Knights are a branch of the Templars that mainly fight the werewolves in the southern forests. They are so respected that they can conscript anyone they think has the skills to fight the werewolves, from lowly slave (if there were slaves in Seattile) to a person of noble birth, anyone could become a Silver Knight, weather they like it or not.

Dragon Slayers are the third most powerful order of knights. Their main duty is to fight and kill any and all dragons in Seattile and then Middle Trav Khar. The Dragon Slayers use weapons and tactics made to fight dragons and the Order of the Black Dragon.

Order of the Black Dragon
Unlike all the other orders of Seattile this one is considered the only evil one since their may goal is to unleash a powerful dragon on Seattile and the world. Most of the order is made of Goblins since they worship dragons, but there are a few humans, elves and dwarves that are members. But those who are members if found are killed on sight. High ranking members, if they have magic, are given the power to turn into a dragon, through a unknown ritual. Their arch-rivals are the Dragon Slayers of Southern Seattile.

Dragon Knights:
The Dragon Knights are the inner circle of the "Order of the Black Dragon" and are given the power to turn into dragons. There are only a dozen of these knights at a time and each one serves a dragon. Ragnar is the most powerful of the dragon knights and serves the dragon known only as the "Black Dragon" or " the Master".

The Circle of Magi
The circle's are the training center for all mages in Seattile. Every city has a circle, which are located old forts and each one has Templars watching their every move, so if they use forbidden magic the Templars can easily kill the mages useing dark magic. Anyone who uses dark magic is called a Maleficar, any mage who does not belong to a Circle either they never were part of a Circle or they ran away from the Templars are Apostates, but they don't useally use dark magic. Anyone who is revealed to be a mage is sent to the Circle as soon as possable, most mages are taken from their families at a early age and won't see them for a long time sometimes never again.

A mage

There are also many apostates/maleifcars that live in the forests in western Seattile but few go there willingly. There are also rumors that some of these mage fugitives can shapeshift into dragons.

Standard military
Chevaliers: The elite of the Seattilan knights that don't belong to the Templars, the Sliver Knights or the other notable orders. They follow the codes of chivalry, and will always charge the enemy on hoseback, but if they have to, they will dismount and fight on foot. They and their horses are also covered in steel or Sliverlite armor.


Longbowmen: They are the main archer force of the Seattile Kingdom. In almost every battle they will put wooden stakes in front of them so enemy knights on hoseback won't be able to trample them. In many battles in Seattile history it was the longdow and the wolfhound that won battles.


Crossbowmen: Most milta use a crossbow due to it being easy to use and powerful. But some milita use the steel crossbow as it is more powerful but its main drawback is that it is harder to reload.

Seattilan Wolfhounds: They are used mainly against werewolves, but during the occupation of Seattile they have proven to be good as any Chevalier. Most wolfhounds are trained to take a trained knight off their horse. If fighting untrained men the wolfhounds will sometimes scare the enemy.

Raiders: These men are mostly mercenaries, going were they get payed the most. They use ships to attack towns and small villages on the coast of enemy counties and villages that are more inland but are near riviers, where most ships couldn't go. Their longships can carry about a dozen raiders. They will attack and plunder villages and then leave the towns before a larger force can counter attack.


Orzammar Military

The Legion of the Dead: The elite of Orzammar. They abandon everything to reclaim their lost underground kingdom. Unlike most of the Ozammar military any dwarf can join them. Don't let the name fool you, they arn't dead... yet.

Golems: Living siege weapons. They are able to hurl large bolders at the enemy. There are very few because the knowldge to create them was lost when one of the first dwarven cities fell to the goblen horde. Since there are very few the dwarves useally use them as a last resort. They are either made out of stone or steel and infused with a magical stone known as lyium.


Strenghts
-Chevaliers wear heavy armor to protect them and their horses, but this also makes them slower then other horsemen of diffrent kingdoms, but tougher.
-Makes use of humans, elves, and dwarves.
-The Circle of Magi has a large group of mages
-Templars use armor made out of Silverlite, a metal that is resistant to magic.
-The golems of Orzammar are powerful and able to kill calvery and infantry with ease.
-Wolfhounds are trained to take knights off their horses and break lines of pikemen so the Chevaliers can charge in and finish the enemy off.
-After centuries of wars and battles with Goblens, Dragons, and Werewolves; the people of Seattile are a dangerous force to be reckoned with and are at their best fighting Goblens(and other speices of Orcs) and other creatures that most people do not see in a lifetime.
-The Dwarves of Orzammar are resistant to some forms of magic due to centuries of exposere to a rock known as Lyrium.

weaknesses
-The Kingdom of Seattile has a weak central goverment
-The dwarves of Orzammar lack the huge numbers of other cities and will rarely send help to the Kingdom of Seattile.
-Most Seattian mages refuse to use necromancy.
-The dwarves of Orzammar can not use magic because of long term exposre to a rock known as Lyrium.
-The nobles of Seattile are alway argueing, so when helping other nations Seattile will only be able to send a small part of the army, as the nobles control most of the army.
-There are very few golems, since the knowalge to make them has been lost since the first cities fell to the golben hoard, and are vulnerable to most forms of magic.
-The nobles of Seattile don't have to send soldiers to fight in wars.
-The Kingdom of Seattile can not field vast armies due to the lack of a strong central goverment
-Even if the Kingdom of Seattile is not at war with another kingdom it is a dangerous place due to the goblens and dragons in the Frostback Mountains.

Bios:

King Cailan Theirin Son of former king and hero of the Seattile Kingdom, Maric Theirin. Became king after the death of his farther a couple months ago. He died after being betrayed by Teyrn Loghain.

Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir: One of the only two Teyrns in Seattile. He is often refered to as the 'Commoner General' because before he was the Teyrn of Gwaren, he was a simple peaseant, during the occupation of Seattile. He fought alongside King Maric and most of the current nobles of Seattile, during the war and made a name for himself as a cunning general and doing anything to free his homeland. It was he who led the Seattilans to virctory at the last battle of the liberation, at the river Dane, and became known as the 'Hero of the River Dane'. Even though the River Dane is more a creekthen a river.

Teyrn Brice Cousland: One of the only two Teyrns in Seattile. He fought under the command of Loghain during the occupation. He is one of the few to surive a battle where only 70 'rebels' survied. He is one of the oldest nobles in Seattile; about 48 years old.

King Edrin Aeducan: Current king of Orzammar. He has three sons Trian, Duran, and Bhelen.

Commander Hanssen: A young Templar, who thinks that Necromancy can be used for good (in very rare cases), which has gotten him in trouble more than once with his superiors. He greatly distrusts Jacques de Molay on more than one issues. His wolfhound Huan is never far from his side.

Huan: Hanssen's trusted companion, he is never far from his side. This wolfhound is named after a wolfhound of legend who was said to be as big as a small horse and was deadly in battle, able to kill many werewolves and defeat a shapeshifter of great power, who took the shape of the most powerful werewolf in Seattile. Huan (Hanssen's hound) is bigger than most wolfhound and deadly in battle so many think Huan is an descendant of the great Huan of Legend
Huan means great wolf.

Jacques de Molay: The current Grand Master of the Templars. He will do almost anything to root out Maleifcars and any mage not under his control, even if they are not from Seattile. He is the opposite of Captain Hanssen. Many jokenly say thar he is as stubbern as a wolfhound, but than again most Seattilans are.

Knight-Commander Richard Teagan: As a Silver Knight, he is a vetern of many battles against the werewolves in southern Seattile. He is well liked by his men (and wolfhounds). He carries a huge war hammer that would make any dwarf proud and he also has beard that would make a dwarf proud.

Arl Gareth Bryland: Is (or was) the Arl of Ostagar and the surronding farms. He is willing to die for Seattile and Ostagar, he perfers to charge at the enemy then think stuff through before attacking.

Prince Martin Theirin: He is the younger half-brother of King Cailan and was raised by the Silver Knights in secert.

Ragnar: Not much is known about the man who willingly serves the "Black Dragon". But he is known by his jet-black armor and the ability to turn into a dragon at will. He is a descendent of those who traped the "Black Dragon" in a statue but he dosen't know this. Due to his powers he is considered an Apostate or Malificar by some. His power was given to him by the "Black Dragon". Ragnar is also a high ranking member of "the Order of the Black Dragon"

Chief Azog: Chieftian of the most powerful goblin tribe in Seattile. He is over two-hundred years old and is still in his prime. He killed the prevuois king of Orzammar in an one on one duel to the death. He is a proud follower of the "Black Dragon" for it is that dragon who saved his people from the humans and dwarves many years ago. He doesn't trust Ragnar, Azog thinks he will betray their master and try to kill him. Azog and many other goblins are members of "the Order of the Black Dragon".

[seattile]

Seattile Goverment System

King/Queen
Teyrn/Teyrna
Duke/Duchess
Arl/Arlessa
Baron/Baroness
Bann
Knight
Freeholders (commoners who own some land, mostly farms)
Peaseants ( own little to nothing)


Orzammar Caste System
A Dwarf's caste depends on their same gender parent. So a son of a male noble would would be a noble and daughter of a castless mother would be a casteless.

Nobles
Warrors
Smiths
Merchants
Craftmen
Servants
Casteless (criminals & their descendants)

Religions of the Kingdom of Seattile

Most humans and some Elves worship one god call the 'Maker'. Most of the orders belive they serve him, and that they are doing what he commands by hunting down Maleficars.

Most of the Elves of Seattile worship a group of gods known as the creators. There is another another race of gods: gods of evil, with whom the gods of the elven pantheon fought an endless war. These gods are now known as the Forgotten Ones, and for good reason as even the hahrens, or elven elders, know little to nothing about them. According to legend they, along with the elven pantheon, were trapped away from the world at around the time before the fall of Arlathan, an ancient elf kingdom, that is said to of been present day Eastern Seattile.

Elgar'nan the 'All-Father' and god of Vengeance: he represents fatherhood and vengeance, and leads the pantheon with the goddess Mythal. He was the first of the elven gods, born of the sun and the earth.

Mythal the Great Protector: Is the patron of motherhood and justice and leads the pantheon with her male counterpart, Elgar'nan

Falon'Din: Friend of the Dead and their Guide: Falon'Din is the elven God of Death and Fortune and guides the dead to the Beyond. He and his twin brother, Dirthamen, are the eldest children of Elgar'nan the All-Father and Mythal the Protector and were inseparable from birth.

Dirthamen: the elven god of secrets and is the twin brother of Falon'Din, and master of the ravens Fear and Deceit. An elven legend says that he gave each creature a secret to keep, however the hares shouted their secret to the treetops, the birds sold theirs for gold and the foxes traded their secret for wings. Only the bears kept Dirthamen's secret, so the bear is considered beloved of Dirthamen.

Andruil: the elven goddess of the hunt. The hawk and the hare in particular are beloved of Andruil.

Sylaise the Hearthkeeper: is seen as the sister of Andruil the Huntress. Sylvaise gave the elves fire and taught them how to weave and to use herbs and magic for healing purposes.

June God of the Craft: June is the elven god of crafts: it is he who taught the elves how to make bows, arrows, and knives.

Ghilan'nain Mother of the Halla: goddess of guide and navigation, Mother of the Halla, was once a mortal woman and beloved of Andruil. Halla are white deer-like creatures revered by the elves.

Fen'Harel: Is also known as the Dread Wolf, Lord of Tricksters and bringer of nightmares. He betrayed the gods of both good and evil by sealing them away in their respective realms, never again to interact with the mortal world, is sometimes used to explain why the elven gods did not intervene to prevent the fall of Arlathan, the ancient kingdom of the elves. Statues of Fen'Harel are set aside from any elf camp and facing away, as a reminder that the elves must always be wary.

The Dwarves do not worship any god or gods but worship their ancestors and even the very stone that surrounds the city of Orzammar.

Culture of Seattile

Humans: The humans of Seattile are more divided then the other peoples of Middle Trav Khar, but they are unified in religion and tradtion. Most burn the bodies of the dead not out of hate or anything like that but due to the fact that demons are able to posses the dead more easily than the living.
The most noticeable feature of Seatilan human culture is the Seattilan wolfhound.

Seattilan Dictonary:
Most humans of Seattile speak in a languge that is like Norwegian and mostly use it when talking amongst themselves or when passing on secert information amongest foreigners.

Werewolf: Varulv
Vampire: Vampyr
Templar: Tempelridder
Elf: Alf
Elven: Alven
Dwarf: Dverg
Dwarves: Dvergene
Attack: Angrep
Knight: Ridder (or Chevalier)
Archer: Bueskytter
Heaven: Himmelen
King: Konge
Queen: Dronning
Traitor: Forraeder
Foreigner: Utlending
Cat people: Kattemennesker
Demon: Demonen
Demons: Demoner
Wraiths: Gjenferdene
Dragon(s): Drage(r)
North: Nord

The Fade
The Fade (yes the same thing Neo mentioned) is is known to the people of Seattile as the realm of Dreams, Spirits and Demons (mostly Demons).


Creatures of Seattile

(Most mythical creatures are based on medieval folklore).

Dragons: The most feared creatures in Seattile. They mostly reside in the Frostback Mountians. The older a dragon is, the larger it is. There is a bounty for any dragon head. There have been cases of witchs turning into dragons, but these are thought as only rumors. There is a major Dragon Slayer Order based at Dragons Peak. Most Dragons live in caves and tunnels in the Deep Roads or on mountian tops. There are rumors that the goblins of the Frostback mountans (and some 'wilder folk') worship Dragons.


Werewolves
These creatures mainly live in the southern forest of Seattile but have been known to go up north. There are rumors of some Werewolves being able to talk and one bite can turn a person into one of them in about 45 hours or so. The Silver Knights are trying to find a cure for the Werewolf disease. Almost every household in eastern Seattile have plants known as Wolfsbane (Aconitum, a real plant) and these plants help protect people from werewolves. Most scholars think the first werewolves in Seattile (not the same werewolves Canti mentioned) were people transformed into werewolves by witchs. The Silver Knights (and mostly everyone in Seattile who kills a werewolf) burn the bodies of slain werewolves so they don't become "wolf vampires" (based on medieval folklore). These "hybrids" if not burned will rise from the dead and during the night they will attack people and drink their blood and when the sun rises their "soul" returns to their body until night returns.

Giant Rats: About the size of a small dog. Most carry diseases and have sharp teeth.