Ainor

Ainor is an arrangement of islands surrounded by hundreds of miles of ocean in every direction. It was originally settled by the Triumvirate Paladins long before any other faction, followed by human settlers, halflings, dwarves, elves, orcs and many more folk both fair and foul.

Geography
Ainor consists of numerous bodies of land contained within around # square miles of ocean. The archipelago itself spans about # miles from north to south, and about # miles east to west. The individual islands that make it up span anywhere from # to # miles across at their widest point. Despite being islands, the average lowest elevation of level land on any of the islands is close to 300 feet above sea level, since nearly every island is ringed completely by massive, porous cliffs that stoop to meet the waters below.

The sea of Ainor was a turbulent inland sea body of water eons ago, ringed by mountains that kept it contained. Over millennia, the currents both ate away at the bodies of land that ringed them and eventually burst through to the lowlands beyond, flooding the valleys thousands of miles away while draining the sea to half its previous depth. A series of volcanoes that had once remained concealed beneath the waves were then revealed and towered above the waters, and their frequent eruptions spilled forth magma that flowed and cooled and formed a series of massive islands over many centuries. Over time the volcanoes became less and less active, while the same winds and waves that eroded the once great mountains also tore at the shores of the isles. Lowlands gave way to waterways and beaches washed away to leave cliffs, which in turn had great caverns and grottos carved into them by the tides. Today, few of the volcanoes even resemble mountains anymore, and fewer still are active at all. Despite this, the soil of the archipelago remains the most fertile in the world, and the some of the land has been tamed by civilization and industry. That is not to say that the archipelago as a whole is tame- dominating the wilderness between human city-states lie fey kingdoms, warring orc and hobgoblin armies, dwarvish halls and barbarian tribes. In the caverns beneath the isles, merpeople, sahuagin and fouler folk make their homes. The rich soil, plentiful wildlife and priceless ore of the volcanic isles have drawn the eye of multitudes of creatures, and many hope to gain sole dominion over them.

History
Long before the modern day, the archipelago has seen the rise and fall of a few empires, several of kingdoms and innumerable duchies, baronies and various other societies. Among the first creatures to make the Ainor archipelago their home were the Triumvirate Paladins eventually followed by human and halfling settlers. Both claimed their stake of the lands and waterways, but were met with competition come the arrival of dwarf clans, elvish refugees and other (sometimes fouler) folk. What eventually resulted was widespread warfare across the isles, with leaders and officers being slain left and right. In the end it was a family of wealthy merchants who seized power and restored the peace, rebuilding society with their accumulated riches. This family consisted of five elf siblings under the surname of Ailar, who divided the archipelago between them into five realms. In turn they appointed lords under them, granting them leadership over the city-states in turn for sworn men to maintain their hold on the aisles. In time the decimated lands were restored and the stewards and lords and ailars accumulated greater riches and power than they had ever known. And so it has been since.

Government
Leadership of the archipelago remains much the same as it has for centuries. There are five realms: Araxa, Arkhos, Dresden, Hamar and Napori; each is governed by a high lord known as an ailar, named after the first family who held such office. The archipelago was once united under myriad duchies and family estates, but the strongest of these soon united others under their banners and made themselves kings and queens. Eventually the strongest of the noble houses seized even greater control and their ambitions took such hold that bloody warfare between the families was inevitable. It was the Asteron Ailar an influential elvish merchant, that mustered his own army of mercenaries and smallfolk and laid the nobility low. Resentful that common merchants, let alone feyborn, would seek to oppose their rule, the defeated noble houses still only agreed to bend the knee when they were promised significant political power, albeit it being authority underneath and granted by Ailar.

The five children of Asteron Ailar, the merchant turned warlord, each took hold of a number of the noble kingdoms, naming it their own realm. Not surrendering to ideals of divine right or noble entitlement, the family of merchants funded each of their realms not through taxes but out of pocket, expanding their business practices to create vast monopolies over the commerce of their realms and investing their gains in keeping the kingdoms prosperous as much as maintaining their personal luxuries. The nobility were placated with a cut of the profits and the promise of keeping their ancestral estates; and in turn members of their families as well as their bannermen swore fealty to their lord Ailar. Such knights are sworn men ensured that the Ailars had armies and agents that could be trusted beyond their desire for coin, and also enabled the nobles to have some say in the rulership and business decisions of the Ailars through the influence of their knights. The delicately achieved balance pervaded for centuries. As the first of the Ailars passed on whether by retirement or death, the nobles excitedly readied themselves to retake the lands and the smallfolk that had been at their service, but each of the elves’ holdings were passed on not to the nobles, not even to their own children, but those that had long been in their service; whose business sense and ambition had brought them to a right-hand position of their forebears. Some nobles rebelled against their new lords in response (the most notable of them being house Arstellan of Napori), but were put down by their overlords, old and new. In scorn for the bloodline mentality of the highbornhouses, the last of Asteron’s children named each of their successors as ailar by title, in mockery of the family names so prided bythe nobles. The succession of rulership has not changed since, with each ailar being dubbed not as an heir but as a partner or even a worthy business opponent to the last. Most of the ailars passed on with grace as their successors stepped up; though some wars were fought between candidates or competitors and a great deal of political maneuvering and intrigue have surrounded the passing of some of the ailars. Regardless of the disputes between the oligarchs however; it is unanimously decided that none of the noble houses should ever hold the title. The lords and ladies of the archipelago have had to be content with their humbler positions since, as the Ailars and their associates guide them like puppets with golden strings.

Within each realm are various city-states, notable settlements that in turn hod stewardship over the surrounding towns and villages (if any). Each city-state has a steward to lead it, appointed by the Ailar and his or her accomplices. Stewards are typically selected from noble families that continually pay tribute to the Ailar, and in turn regulate their own laws and court. Their typical duties include appointing city guards, managing local roads, overseeing court to enforce their own decrees and or course keeping their city profitable. Stewards do most of the day-to-day governing while Ailars primarily collect funds and divert them into various large-scale projects such as the founding of new cities, funding their armies, establishing highways or ensuring that they have enough delicacies to impress their guests with.

The Realms
Below are listed the five realms and the real-world cultures and regions they primarily resemble. Despite whatever real-world cultures and regions tie into the general feel of each realm, the overall culture and geography is consistently similar to southern Europe and the Mediterranean.

Keep in mind that there are three human subraces who have drastically shaped the culture of the archipelago: the gaspar, the arstul and the aubur. The gaspar are the fantasy equivalent of the ancient Romans and are the dominant culture of the isles. The arstul are similar to the Byzantines and the aubur are a mashup of Germanic, Saxon and Nordic cultures.

Araxa
The southeast most of the five realms, and the second to support settlers. It is culturally similar to real-world Persia andvMacedonia. Araxa features the only truly desert regions in the archipelago, but these are only inland away from the shores, which are lush and tropical to the south but resemble a Mediterranean coast at Araxa’s northern shores. The people there are primarily gaspar, the human sub race that first settled the archipelago, and the arstul, who sailed up from the far south decades later.

Arkhos
The east most region of the archipelago just north of Araxa, Arkhos was the third region to be settled. Culturally and geographically, Arkhos most resemble Greece with its rocky shores and Mediterranean climate, although it was originally settled by the dragonborn race before it was forcibly seized by the gaspar legions in the far past. The most prevalent races in “modern-day” Arkhos are the gaspar although halflings are also a common sight, who frequent its coasts and rivers in their boat-homes.

Dresden
Dresden is northwest of Arkhos, and was settled shortly after. The population of Dresden is predominantly populated by the aubur, but the gaspar, as usual, are also populous in the area. Dresden features the largest number of dwarf strongholds among the realms and is a primarily temperate climate, with cold winters and comparatively mild summers. It’s real-world geological equivalent is central Europe and the Caucasus, mostly Germany and Russia, and is the north most of the realms.

Hamar
Hamar is a cultural equivalent of renaissance England and France, although its climate is close to that of Spain or Italy. Hamar features nearly equal numbers of men of gaspar and aubur lineage. It is the westmost of the realms.

Napori
Napori was the first of the realms to be discovered and settled. It is just south of Hamar and west of Araxa, and its human culture is almost entirely gaspar. The culture and architecture of Napori dominates and bleeds into that of the other realms more often than not, and its capitol city-state, Nesseri, is considered to be the jewel of the archipelago by many. More than the other realms, Napori has the look and feel of the Italian renaissance at its budding.

Society
The society of the archipelago has been an enduring class war since the days of Asteron the war-merchant. Society is torn between those of and loyal to the detained noble houses and those who enjoy their freedom from the feudal system as a result of the enduring plutocracy. As a direct result of its system of government, a person’s value in society of more often than not based on the size of their coin purse when among one group, yet that same person may be considered a nobody without highborn blood in their veins among their own neighbors.

Regardless of their upbringing or political alliances, the people of the archipelago (or at least most of the human and dwarf populations) are fairly materialistic and see wealth as a sure sign of success regardless of birth. Trade is common even between nearby towns since the type of goods available vary widely from one region to the next. While some evident subcultures have arisen between each realm and even between separate provinces as a result of different geography or other factors, the overall population of the archipelago shares a common tongue known as Ando, or just as often referred to as “common” among laymen. It is a mashupof the tongues of the gaspar, arstul and aubur who met and clashed and made peace repeatedly through history. There are slightly different dialects and accents, but none to drastic that they might cause any real confusion between different speakers.

Not all of the inhabitants of the islands fit into the hierarchy of the feudal-oligarchical system. Aside from those that live within the proper boundaries of civilized towns and the surrounding countryside, there are multitudes of families and individuals who live independently, in their own clans or tribes or even organize themselves into minor lordships completely independent from the provinces. Whenever such groups do arise, they are often approached by representatives of the city-states or highborn houses who attempt to indoctrinate them into their government through a variety of means, and with varying results. Aside form such civilized society, there are also wandering barbarians, halflings who spend their whole lives on floating homes that traverse the waterways, and many other locals who may or may not pose a danger to travelers. There are no official borders to any region larger than a settlement and smaller than an entire realm. In fact, the realms merely account for which city-states are commanded by which ailar, and have no actual land boundaries. Travel and trade are fluid and sometimes confusing as a result. Even a city-state simply consists of an influential town or city and its surrounding settlements that trade with it as well as the roads that link them, meaning that those of the small Naporian village of Clemen still assume themselves to be part of the city-state of Nesseri, which in actuality is connected from miles away by a dirt highway. This lack of official borders means that there is often no attempt made to fend off encroachers that do not directly threaten an individual settlement. For that reason the countryside along a highway is often nearly as wild and untamed as the wilderness leagues away, and both will hold a host of wondrous and dangerous flora and fauna.

Magic and Technology
Peoples’ reactions to the presence of magic can vary widely depending on their values as well as the region they live in. Magic as it is practiced by wizards is often held in fairly high regard, although also with caution, since it is an art that has required diligent study on the part of the practitioner, and is even integrated with technology in some situations. However, those that seemingly have less control over their magic or that acquire it by mystical means (such as warlocks and sorcerers) are often feared if not hunted, and even those that channel divine power may be occasionally mistaken for dangerous mystics or cultists. While the existence of the divines is undisputed, many “forward-thinking” citizens tend to detach themselves from the idea of their fate being intertwined with obedience to any deity. In fact, shrines and temples are far more common in the wilds or among monasteries than in urban areas. Slowly taking the place of practical magic in the developed world is advanced technology. Steam power is a recent and wondrous invention, many cities have aqueducts and indoor plumbing, and the wealthiest cities have musketeers and cannons rather than archers and catapults to defend them. In addition, wealthy merchants often construct airships to carry their wares, leaving the less fortunate to make the slow journey by sea through the dangerous waters below.

Pantheon
The people of the archipelago knowledge the existence of the classical D&D pantheon, who warred with the primordials to prevent the unmaking of the world shortly after its conception in a cataclysmic event known as the Dawn War. The gods were further divided by their own alignments and goals, although unaligned and good gods have created a persistent peace between each other and their followers, while the evil deities remain outcast and continuously battle the influence of their opposition.

Economy
Bartering can be just as common as the use of coinage between commoners within a village or town, but the wealthier the inhabitants and the larger the settlement, the more coinage comes into play. Large cities use coins almost exclusively for the exchange of goods, since transactions rely more on the exact value of goods rather than a sense of community between parties. Merchants, performers and artisans also deal exclusively in coin due to the massive worth of their goods or services as well as how often they tend to move around. Even the lowliest peasant will likely have a few copper coins tucked away somewhere and will know their worth, since the mercantile nature of the archipelago’s very government makes such knowledge a necessity. The five realms use a standardized coinage system, whose denominations are listed below.
 * Pegs (copper). Lowest denomination.
 * Crescents (silver) worth 10 pegs.
 * Crowns (gold) worth 10 crescents.

Calendar
The people of Ainor use the Gasparan calendar.