Ornethia

Ornethia Worldbuilding Arakokra come in many shapes and sizes, with feathers ranging across the color scale. The younger ones tend to have fresher, less worn in colors, while the older ones has bold yet grizzled colors. Unrelated, the Ornethian Government is divided amongst four branches: Ornethian Skyforce, College of Avios, the Domestic Council, & the Church of [Hytherian Minor God]. Each branch supplies one representative to sit on the Ornethian Ruling Council, but that representative cannot sit on more than one council at a time. The fifth member of the council, the Ornethian Chairman is elected by the people every 5 years. This creates interesting political strife between that individual and the Domestic Council’s representative, as the latter often spends their time campaigning for Chairman due to their political proximity & influence to the people. While not a monarchy, the Ornethian Chairman is often referred to by names that would imply this, such as the Bird King/Queen.   The Arakokrans, like most Hytherian societies, refer to the region the characters traveled through as the Underwild.   Ornethia Skyforce: the military branch of government, divided further into specific branches:   1. Ornethian Sentinels: Battlemaster fighters, responsible for defense of the city from external threats. While their sole loyalty is to the military and defense of the city, they occasionally work with the Ornethian Guard 2. Avitroopers: Fighters leading barbarians & rangers. They are responsible for military offensives and act as the standing army of Ornethia. 3. Sky Scouts: Rangers & rogues, responsible for gathering military intelligence & keeping stealthy watch over their own and foreign territory. 4. Battleweavers: pseudo-division of half-casters & other rejects from the College of Avios. They are used throughout the Skyforce where their skills help best.   College of Avios: a school that houses the magical seat of power in Ornethia. Ruled by the Spellweaver Council, 3 powerful mages from each class of spellcaster. There is always a sorcerer, a Wizard & a Druid. Artificers & warlocks are allowed instruction by the college, but with some caveats. While artificers are respected for their dedication and study of magical craft by the wizards, warlocks are somewhat looked down upon as “second class casters” for how they’ve acquired their magic, and often not trusted. In older days, warlocks weren’t allowed at the college for this reason. However, after several reforms from the Ornethian Ruling Council, warlocks are allowed with begrudging acceptance by the college. Half casters are neither allowed on the council nor taught at the college; those who are taught and discovered to be best suited for this path are kicked out of college and sent to the Skyforce. Warlocks that are sick of the discrimination also tend to join the Skyforce. Schools of magic in the College of Avios:   1. School of Power: practices by the sorcerers, wizards & Druids who simply wish to invoke the raw power of Hytherian magic. This often manifests as destructive lightning, fire, radiance & winds, but is not limited by these. Much like the School of Evocation regular wizards may practice. 1.5 School of Sky: subset of the School of Power, practiced mostly by Druids, who focus solely on the magicks of the skies. Lightning, winds & radiance are sacred powers to them, and their style involves flowing in perfect sync with these forces of nature. 3. Other schools I have not developed lore for: Abjuration, Conjuration (usually based on Hytherian creatures), Enchantment, Illusion, & Transmutation. While tomes on Necromancy are locked away in the restricted section of the college’s library, the school is no longer taught due to heavy pressure from the Church (and their holy army) based on past instances of rogue Arakokra necromancers. All tomes on Divination were sold through an arrangement with The Aviary; the College would sell off their divination books and promise not to practice or teach Divination magic for as long as the agreement stands. In exchange, the College was allowed unfiltered research access to The Aviary’s libraries, even it’s restricted sections, so long as the research was for arcane/magical study.   The Domestic Council - governs day-to-day activities of the people within the city, managing law & order as well as prosperity amongst the citizens. Arguably the most corrupted branch, it works closely with the Ornethia Skyforce to maintain domestic security. This can go as far as using the Ornethian Sentinels to enforce law & order during times of strife, much to the disillusionment of the people. The Ornethian Guard acts as the city’s main internal police force   Church of Eveikna: the religious branch of the Ornethian government. Responsible for maintaining favorable relations with their deity (Eveikna, archangel child of a Minor God) and the gods Eveikna answers to. They also monitor (and occasionally communicate with) other deities and powerful beings within Hytheria, both for National security & pursuit of religious knowledge. While there are regular priests performing day-to-day tasks at the temple, powerful clerics & paladins enforce the will of their worshipped gods. They are also responsible for leading the Skyforce on religious military campaigns, much to the latter’s chagrin. Interestingly, warlocks of certain angelic & other celestial beings may be accepted amongst the Church, even if they’ve been cast out by the College of Avios. However, they can only be present in the Holy Army. The Church is further divided to two sections; the Clergy & the Holy Army.   Clergy Rankings (female; men are seen as disposable beyond their mating purposes, delegated to sacrifice their bodies for defense of the church & its principles): 1. Acolyte 2. Priestess 3. High Priestess: govern a temple 4. Council of the Archpriests: One of them is responsible for communications with the other branches of government) 5. The Pope (aka Bird Pope, Popakokra, leader of the Church): Chosen among the archpriests once every 30 years by Eveikna herself.   Holy Army Rankings (male; women are seen as too valuable to society and engrained in its culture to die off as soldiers)   1. Crusader: foot soldiers of the Army, taught basic holy magicks gained through prayer and service to Eveikna & the Hytherian Gods. They have other ranks among them that determine hierarchy, but none go above the Captain 2. Temple Guard (monks): protectors of the temples and the clergy. Chosen due to their discipline and general comfort of the clergy around them, rather than soldiers with weapons and without knowledge-based discipline. 3. Holy Warlocks: those aforementioned casters that hold pacts with celestials, sphinxes, and other beings deemed worthy by the Army. Report to their commanding Crusader Captain 4. Crusader Captains (paladins) 5. Temple Master (powerful monks): hold authority over all guards within their stationed temple. Have strong working relations with the High Priestesses of said temples. Reports to the Grandmaster. 6. Grandmaster of the Temple Guard: has sole authority over the Temple Guard and all its Masters. Reports to the Archpriests & the Archknight 7. Crusader Generals (powerful paladins): Oversee crusades in Eveikna’s name, report to the Archknight 8. The Archknight: reports to the Pope, but not the Archpriests.   Centranest (often called The Nest): a privately-owned egg-raising company, as natural egg-raising is often seen as a time-consuming burden by society (tho some people still raise their own eggs). Instead, The Nest collects all the eggs from their customer’s homes through a complex channel of wind arteries throughout the city. They end up in the central nest chambers with several caretakers that raise eggs for a living. Once the eggs are hatched, they are sent back to their home on record. Every now and then there are mixups, but as egg-raising revenue is on the line, they try their best to get it right. The Nest lobbies heavily to the Domestic Council for favorable laws towards their practice, and keeps positive relations & influence among the wealthy elites of Ornethia.   The Aviary: the grand library of the city. Hosts large collections of knowledge, both on the city’s history, history of the Arakokra, history/knowledge of the realm, and all sorts of other knowledge (might even be able to find some maps here). The Aviary is run by Owlakokras, a subrace of Arakokra resembling owls. While not a part of the government, they are respected by all three branches of Ornethian government and are often left to their own devices on governance of this collection. They are even consulted from time to time by members of these government factions for their knowledge, giving them strong influence.