Moriah

Moriah (Mo-RYE-uh)

(Working on Map)

Capital: Nadai
Form of Government: Monarchy
Ruler(s): King Eric Matrino and Queen Melody Matrino
Legal System: Civil law. Formal courts can be found in each city, with 2-3 judges in each so the burden does not become to great, along with a jury of peers that is changed every 3 months. Any citizen over 20 years of age can be called to serve in the jury. Extreme cases are taken directly before the monarch, any ruling can be appealed directly to the monarch.
Official Language(s): Mori. Most also speak Common and some Elven
Foreign Relations: Corone- Friendly , Alerar- none , Fallien- wary , Salvar- wary, Scara Brae-friendly , Haidia- distrust
Size of Military: 100,000
Military Branches: 33,000- Calvary, 33,000-Infantry, 33,000 Navy, 100 Dragonriders (see specialized Military Units)
Specialized Military Units: 100 Dragonriders. The dragons are approximately 100-200 feet in length from snout to tail tip. They are equipped with special harnesses for their Mori riders so that the rider will not fall out. The dragons are all male and trained for battle from a young age with the same rider. Some riders equip their dragons with tailspikes, but this is always a mutual decision between rider and dragon. As a result of the close training and the dragon’s natural attributes, a telepathic link is formed between rider and dragon, allowing the two to work together in perfect harmony with each other. There are no reigns with the harness as directions can be given via the telepathic link. The dragons are not pets or mere animals as horses would be, they are partners.

Population: 500,000 (cities, towns, and villages only, unknown with the jungle tribes)
Average Age: 120 (equal to mid 20s in humans)
Racial Breakdown: 80% Mori, 10% Elves, 5% Humans, 5% Others
Life Expectancy: 250–300 years
Nationality: Morian/Mori
Major Religions: none
Literacy: 50–60%

Technology Levels: Mid to late Medieval
Major Imports:
1. wine, ale, and other assorted alcohol
2. silks & satins
3.other tobacco products
4.some types of grain, fruits, and vegetables
Major Exports:
1. Morian cloth. This cloth comes in many colors. It is flexible, easily washed, and is resistant to wind tossing it about, making it good for dresses (wind would have a hard time flashing the material up revealing more than the lady would like)
2. Tropical fruits. The jungle to the south brings forth a great variety of tropical fruit.
3. Tobacco. Many of the farms in the countryside produce some of the finest pipe tobacco known to Althanas.
4. Tropical fish

Currency/Exchange Rate (= 1 Corone GP): 2 Morian Goldmarks = 1 Corone GP, 5 Morian Silvermarks = 1 Morian goldmark, 10 coppers = 1 Morian Silvermark.
All coins have the Royal Palace stamped on one side. On Goldmarks, the other side is the face of the first king, on Silvermarks, the face of the first Queen, and on coppers, a large oak tree.
Natural Resources: fish, farmland

Major Terrain Features: Mostly gently rolling grassland. Sheer cliffs wall in the island with low hills softening to the grassland, a vast, impenetrable jungle covers the southern end.
Elevation Extremes: (high) 500' above sea level, (low) sea level
Climate and Seasons: 4 seasons, with a hot, humid summer and milder spring, fall, and winter. Almost never snows unless someone is training to be a weather mage and messed up.
Natural Hazards: dangerous wildlife (in the jungle only)

Location: Straight south of Corone. It would be just south of the edge of the current World Map.

Primary locations: (in order of appearance as you approach Moriah and follow the road, mostly)
1. Cliff Gates: Located on the northeast “corner” of Moriah, this is the only entrance to the island nation of Moriah. It is named so because it is a narrow entrance at only 100' wide, but 500' tall. At the top of each cliff are three catapults. These are the first line of defense against enemies and are manned at all times. Also at the top of the cliffs is one small house on each side. These houses are for the soldiers that man the catapults and for the six weather mages (3 on each side). These mages use their magic to protect Moriah from devastating storms and hurricanes. Rain of course still comes to feed the crops that grow in the countryside, but the land is free from storms otherwise. Should all the mages be killed or die in another fashion, the magic holding back storms will reverse itself and call storms to the small island nation. Thus, it is in the best interest of the nation to keep a ready supply of weather mages trained and is also why there are six stationed at the top of the Cliff Gates. The passage itself is 600' long, but treacherous. A ship’s captain must go exactly down the middle. The cliffs are sheer and have numerous large rocks at their base as well as deadly currents. A slip through the cliffs can easily pull a ship onto the rocks and sink it quickly. The Cliff Gates open out on a wide bay, five miles wide by 2 miles long from Cliff Gates to harbor.

2. Hamasha- Hamasha is the first city one would come to and is the only port. It’s walls are high and thick. The harbor itself is located outside city walls and is normally fairly busy with incoming and outgoing ships. Within the single gate, you will first come upon the housing of the common people. The streets here are of an average width, wide enough for two wagons to pass each other easily. The houses are neat and tidy and look well taken care of. Inns are in abundance, the most popular being one called The Blue Rose. It is marked by a sign hanging above the door with a picture of said flower. Hawkers stand on the street corners calling out their wares, while shopkeepers keep their windows well stocked with their newest items.
The further you travel through the city, the homes become more ornate as you reach the areas where the lords and ladies of the land keep their townhouses. Most of these nobles have a large mansion in the countryside, but they also keep a “small” townhouse” for when business calls them to the city. These vary in ornateness depending upon the owner’s personal tastes.
Near the center of the city is the rather large home of the Mayor. The Mayor is directly answerable to the reigning king or queen and may or may not have a council consisting of the common people to advise him.
There is a garrison for the militia in Hamasha. It is located near the bay-side wall and houses up to 200 men, though usually there are only 100 men there at a time. The main garrison is in the capital city, Nadai. It is well-equipped for just about anything.
To the east and west are also gates. These lead to dirt roads that will take one to the various fishing villages that line the coast. None of these villages can handle anything bigger than a longboat docking there. Out of the south gate, leads the only highway on the island called simply, the High Road.

3. Nadai- Nadai is the nation’s capital. It is here that one will find the Royal Palace and many of the homes of the High Lords and Ladies. In design it is much like Hamasha in that you will first come to the homes of the commoners, and then gradually make your way to the more ornate homes. The Royal Palace is located in the center of the city and is easily recognizable by its many graceful towers and pinnacles. There is a small informal gate set between the upper class district (Inner City) and the lower class district (Outer City). It is open all the time with only a few guards. Though the guards are there for looks, they will not stand by idly. The streets in the Inner City are much broader than any in the rest of the city or Hamasha. Here, four large wagons could travel up and down the road easily. There is often a narrow band of grass grown in the center of the paved the road with small flowering trees or bushes for decoration. Inns are few and far between in the Inner City, but those that you find are far more expensive than those in the Outer City and tend to cater to visiting lords and ladies that are not being housed in the home of those they are visiting. Many of the buildings here are encased in white plaster or marble with fanciful ironworks decorating the gates to the homes.

4. Taviri Falls- This is a quaint little vacation spot, known for it’s hot spring and the waterfall that is the exit for the hot spring pool. The pool at the top of the waterfall is hottest and is equipped with large rocks to sit on and is only chest deep (about 4') at the very center. The pool at the bottom of the 50' waterfall, is still very warm, though not quite so hot as the pool above and is also equipped with rocks for sitting, though it doesn’t get much deeper than waist deep (about 3') A well groomed dirt trail with handrails along the side leads up to the top pool. Near the hot spring is a large inn, Taviri Falls Lodge. It has 50 rooms, a small bar, and an excellent restaurant.

5. Nadai Jungle- Located at the very southern end of Moriah, this vast, practically impenetrable jungle is as wide as the island and it is assumed that it goes to the very edge of the island all the way around the southern coast. No one has been able to prove or disprove this because anyone that goes into the jungle almost never comes out. There are several tribes of people that live in the jungle and they do not take kindly to strangers roaming through their jungle. A few of the tribes do some small trade with the Morians. They come on a regular basis to villages just a few miles away from the edge of the jungle. They like to trade for pretty baubles and some of the kinds of cloth or alcoholic drink that the Morians bring. It is the jungle people who have the secret of making Mori Cloth and so far they aren’t telling anyone how they make it. It is their chief trading good.

Extra on the government: Though Moriah is ruled by a king and a queen that rule jointly, they are bound by their own laws and cannot change the laws to suit their whims. They have a 5-7 member Council of Lords to advise them on how they run the nation. Each lord is responsible to represent a certain section of the countryside and a smaller portion of the citizenship in the cities. The Council holds no power of its own, though it has happened in the past that the Council was either able to control an unusually weak king, or simply to take the power from a king who abused his position and the people. The Council is chosen by the people in the areas they represent for life. Their heir may or may not follow them into office, such depends on the will of the people.

History: Several hundred or more generations ago, a group of elves, humans, their half-elf friends and all their families, opted to leave the land they once called home. Over the years, it has been forgotten what land they originally came from. They left because many of the pure-bred people around them constantly looked down their noses at them simply because they would not hold themselves aloof from the other races in the belief that they were somehow superior. They took two large ships and set sail to find a new home.

Nearly six months later, they came to a large, inhospitable looking island. However, they needed to resupply badly. They sailed around the island in the hopes of finding a beach. What they found was a narrow gap between the sheer cliffs. They could see, dimly, a wide bay at the other side of the passage. After a hasty meeting of the heads of family, they opted to try their luck. The gods must have been smiling on them that day, for they somehow made it down that passage without loss of life or limb.

They sailed on across the wide bay, amazed how calm the water was. The beach they came to was lush and green. Seeing there was no one living here, they decided to settle the land. The first years were rough on these people, but they persevered and within another five years had built their first city. They took the stone for their buildings from the cliffs that surrounded the island. They named their city, Hamasha.

It was at this time that they decided to raise amongst themselves a king. It has long been lost to history why they chose to have a king when they could live together in harmony without one, but they did it anyway. The first king was called Erestus, his wife was called Galina. Their descendants still hold the throne today, though the nation is much larger than it used to be. The face of Erestus is on one side of the Morian Goldmark, Galina’s face is on the Silvermark.

As time went by and the nation grew, they saw fit to build another city further inland. Thus was Nadai born and named the capital. It is rumored that King Erestus named the nation Moriah in honor of his first daughter born on the island, but no one can tell for sure. It was he, in his later years that ordered the new city built. In the meantime, people traveled across the rolling grasslands and formed small farming villages.

Eventually, King Erestus’ great-great grandson, King Omri, decided that he they would do well to find out what had been happening in the world since they left it so many years ago. He sent a messenger to the mainlands with numerous examples of the products they grew in the hopes of sparking trade. This was successful, though trade was slow to build up in the beginning.

It was not until Omri’s grandson, Erestus (named for his ancestor), saw people on the fringes of the jungle while on a hunting trip, that the jungle people were found. Over the course of many years, trade has slowly built between some of the jungle tribes and the Mori. Most often the jungle natives will bring a special cloth that they make and some of the fruits that grow deep in the jungle, but they refuse to tell how the cloth is made or where the fruit it located. Many people have disappeared in trying to find out. It is generally assumed that the jungle people simply killed the intruders.

Now, many, many generations later, trade flourishes with the jungle people and with the mainland. The current king, Eric, is a good king with his wife, Melody, and sister, Jasmine, to guide him. He was not raised to be a king, but Jasmine gave him little choice in the matter. Jasmine Matrino is actually the rightful ruler, but after wresting control back from her traitorous fiancé, she decided that she was not fit to rule because her running away the first time had enabled Lord Montego to take over and abuse the land and its people. She was queen for a few days to set things to right that Montego had corrupted, then stepped down, giving the crown and the Sapphire Throne to her brother, Eric.