Chapter X: The Empire
the great mountains from the east and he is still venerated widely in the dukedoms of Parravon, Montfort and Quenelles. The warriors of southern Carcasonne and Brionne hold the Warrior-Goddess Myrmidia in quite high favour, and her worship spread into Aquitaine as well. Across the Bretonni tribes the worship of earth-spirits was common—they could be seen at dusk and dawn walking through the mists as unearthly creatures. It was said that they were ruled by a powerful queen, who lived in the mountains, in the grass, in the rivers, and the calm lakes found throughout the Bretonni dukedoms. For this reason she was known as the Lady of the Lake, and a Bretonni warrior defending his lands could call to the Lady for strength and courage. However, since her appearance to Gilles le Breton, the Lady of the Lake is now the Goddess of the nobility. She embodies the lands of Bretonnia itself, and the ideals on which the kingdom is founded. The peasantry worship the Lady, but to a much lesser extent, and combine their worship with that of Gods more appropriate to their lot in life. The most widespread of these are the nature God Taal, and his wife the Mother-Goddess Rhya. They also pray to Shallya to avoid the woes of pox and plague, and those who live in the ports and along of the coast regularly make supplications to Manaan, God of the seas. In the impoverished cities, where crime runs rife and depredation is the order of the day, there are many secret temples to the rogue God Ranald—and many other, less pleasant deities. While the Knights do not ignore these older Gods (that would be asking for trouble), their lives are dedicated to the protection and veneration of the Lady of the Lake who founded the nation. The Lady is worshipped across Bretonnia at grail chapels—sited at places where she has manifested herself, or visions of the grail have been seen. There are also chapels to the Lady within the cities and in the castles of Grail Knights. The power of the Lady is represented by the Fay Enchantress and the Grail Knights, including the King himself, and many of the Dukes. While the Fay Enchantress does not interfere much in the politics of Bretonnia, she has been known on occasion to command the Grail Knights to action, on a great quest to slay a monster ravaging a sacred place of the Lady, or to fight an army encroaching upon the Goddess’s domains. The Grail Knights answer to the Fay Enchantress as well as the king, and can be considered as Templars of the Lady of the Lake. They generally keep their own counsel, and many live a solitary existence in the Grail Chapels. Sometimes, on the eve of battle, a Bretonnian army may be joined by one or more Grail Knights, who will fight alongside them. Many think they are guided by the Lady herself. As mysteriously as they arrive, they leave after the battle is won. Bretonnia is independent of its neighbours, and has been known to ally with the Empire and Estalia, as well as go to war with them. Many Bretonnian Knights embark on crusades to Araby and the Lands of the Dead, and the Border Princes is home to many small principalities and fiefdoms from dispossessed or dishonoured Bretonnian nobles. T he e sTalIan k Ingdoms The Estalian Kingdoms lie far to the south, where the threat of Chaos seems very remote. Like the Border Princes, Estalia is a collection of petty kingdoms. Unlike the Border Princes, however, Estalians face no threat from Orcs and Goblins so they mostly fight amongst themselves. Only one event had the chance of uniting Estalia and that was the invasion of the Sultan of Araby over a thousand years ago. A huge army of Arabyans landed in Estalia and conquered much of the region, including the city Magritta. Responding to Estalia’s call, armies of crusaders arrived from Bretonnia, the Empire, and the Tilean City- States. The Arabyans were defeated and the land reclaimed but no outstanding Estalian leader arose in this conflict to unify the small
T he s oCIal o rder Bretonnian society is based upon a feudal hierarchy. The peasants serve the Knights in return for protection, while the Knights are obligated to provide military assistance to their lords in return for certain rights (to own land, raise their own taxes, receive aid and military forces in times of war, and so on). At the top of this hierarchy is the King. Beneath the King are the Dukes. There are fourteen traditional Dukedoms (not duchies) in Bretonnia —Carcasonne, Quenelles, Brionne, Aquitaine, Bastonne, Bordeleaux, Mousillon, Parravon, Montfort, Lyonesse, Artois, Gisoreux, L’Anguille and Couronne. Mousillon the city is actually now a dead city and the Dukedom also is falling into disrepair, many of its lands have now been seized by Lyonesse. Beneath the Dukes is another layer of nobility—Earls and Barons. The King, Dukes, Earls, and Barons are also each the lords over a number of Knights, who are the lesser nobles. Each Knight, including the higher nobles, also has a force of men-at-arms. These men-at-arms are chosen from the most physically able of the peasantry, and in return for being part of a standing fighting force for the Knight may be given a small tract of land for their family. In theory, all commoners can be called upon by a Knight to serve him in battle, but this has rarely been put into practice. Bretonnia has not developed a middle class as powerful as that of the Empire. There is thus no moderating force to keep the nobility in check. While the feudal contract is supposed to benefit both noble and commoner, it is difficult for the filth-covered peasants to see what they gain. Bretonnia has two different worlds, one of gleaming castles and
chivalry and the other of toil and squalor. b reTonnIan r elIgIon
The ancient Bretonni worshipped many Gods, as did the other ancient tribes. In particular, worship of the God Taal spread over
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