The Tondene Empire

 

Resident Races

Humans, Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Orcs, Aarakocra

 

Predominant Languages

Imperial, Northern Khuzdul, Quenya, Lurkash, Mekiitagi, Windsong

 

Nation Notes

The Tondene Empire is the most cosmopolitan of the countries on the continent of Endrica. The series of emperors conquered lands containing every sentient race except for the kler’naktha, but only because they are on the other side of the tallest mountains on the planet. The current emperor, His Worthiness Kenryth the Hand of Mithras, has a very large collection of shards, and he wants more. Wants them to the point that despite almost of century of stable borders, he has become expansionistic. He has begun training his legions, and setting up caches of war materiel and supplies. Most likely he will head west, past the Kingdom of Darach to the Essimine Monarchy in his campaign of conquest (and shard collection). Then the Empire can turn it’s attention to the Kingdom of Darach, which is a much tougher nut to crack. While it would be easier to send his armies into the Small Kingdoms, taking them piecemeal, leaving the Dwarves as a threat to his rear would be unwise.

  The southern coast line is prone to hurricanes. The Northern Expanse of the Aarakocra is located within the borders. While they are technically citizens of the Empire, most sky folk don’t have much to do with other races. A few, however, do, and can be found in other cities scattered about the nation.

  The Empire is comprised of twelve Grand Duchies; each duchy is made up of Counties, which are made up of Baronies. Baronies are divided up into Steads/Manors, which basically have a village or town and the lands immediately surrounding it. Steads generally have a Knight as a liege lord to both run and protect the town. Knights select Bannermen to be their Steadfast Guards, which make up the local constabulatory, personal guard, and army when needed. The primary language that is spoken is a dialect of Old Araterre, now called “Imperial”. It’s a bit of a mishmash of several languages, much like English is now. They have, over the centuries, borrowed words here and there from various other languages.

  2268750 square miles in size. 15,125 Baronies at about 150sqmi each; 1260 Counties at about a dozen baronies per county; 52 Duchies at about 20 counties per duchy; 12 Grand Duchies at about 4 duchies per grand duchy, although in this case it’s really all over the map.

 

Demographics

  Population: 201918750 people
  Population Density: 89 people per square mile
  Urban Population: 1073175 people
  Cities: 11
  Towns: 77
  Villages: 446323
  Developed Land Area: 1121770 square miles
  Wilderness Area: 1146980 square miles

 

Infrastructure

  Castles: 4039
  Frontier Castles: 1010
  Civil Castles: 3029
  Ruins: 699
  Universities: 8

 

City Demographics

                                                             

City Type	Population	Noble Households	Advocates	Clergymen	Priests
Adayn	241566	1207	371	6039	242
Knightsmill	169096	846	260	4227	169
Kelarith	101457	507	156	2536	102
Cedarglade	76092	380	117	1902	76
Wickston	57069	285	88	1426	57
Port Karn	68508	243	75	1213	49
Eddagord	36381	182	56	909	37
Umberpearl	29104	145	45	727	29
Ashburrow	23283	117	35	582	23
Port Bormand	17462	87	27	436	17
Ashenwain	10477	52	16	262	10

Town Populations:
6317, 6006, 5841, 5818, 5738, 5731, 5586, 5291, 5247, 4891, 4836, 4711, 4679, 4548, 4511, 4312, 4261, 4234, 4157, 4131, 4055, 3994, 3925, 3904, 3892, 3878, 3641, 3586, 3535, 3527, 3501, 3480, 3366, 3334, 3298, 3280, 3276, 3272, 3214, 3212, 3188, 3105, 3092, 2965, 2831, 2816, 2779, 2753, 2741, 2724, 2692, 2685, 2674, 2599, 2579, 2540, 2539, 2504, 2472, 2462, 2457, 2427, 2412, 2399, 2315, 2277, 2271, 2244, 2151, 2112, 2076, 2043, 2001, 1915, 1866, 1761, 1197  

Adayn (Capitol of the Tondene Empire)

3980 acres in size, population about 240K.
List of useful things:
180 blacksmiths
148 inns
55 magic shops
572 taverns
2560 city guard
Emperor’s Palace: 24 acres of floor area, 410 buildings. Surrounded by a 40’ wall and manned by 1200 Imperial Guardsmen.
Adayn is also known for its great numbers of monuments, ranging from buildings to statues.

 

Port Karn

Port Karn was originally settled by Orcs, who called it Pias Ukaduikm, or Port Kharneth. When the Empire (then called the country of Araterre) annexed the lands in -7AFE, it was renamed Port Karn. Eventually, Port Karn North was built on the northern bank of the river, making Port Karn something of a twin city. It has two suburbs, Dhogash and Hearavgizan, also originally orcish villages. Now they are huge, sprawling, cosmopolitan towns that are the main labor sources for the huge tracts of fields that surround the area. That cropland had been painstakingly clearcut out of the jungle.

  Port Karn, a major trading center and port, boasts a robust wharf, mostly warehouses for the trading ships, but the northern portion of the bay houses the naval base and naval shipyards. The southern portion has a civilian shipyard, much smaller, but with three drydocks for cleaning the hulls of ships and repairing major damage. There are several eating establishments and numerous taverns dockside, to support the sailors and dockworkers.

  It is the site of the largest bridge. At Port Karn, the Altasirya River is ten miles wide. The bridge is a series of drawbridges, the roadway running fairly straight about 30 feet above the water. It has thirty four areas where the bridge raises to let ships through. Numerous ferries ply the riverbanks, taking people and cargo back and forth from bank to bank. Plans have been made for a second bridge, much like the first, but funding it has been an issue. Everyone wants it, but no one wants to pay for it.

  The local Grand Duchess is a Dwarf by the name of Frida Featherstone. Her palace is the one on the hill on the south side of the river. It’s walls are 40’ high, and the road to the gate winds all around the hill, giving the palace guards plenty of time to rain arrows onto anyone who tried to lay siege to the palace.

   

History of the Empire

Hundreds of years ago, the area now occupied by the Tondene Empire was made up of over twenty nations, of several different races. King Tondene, a human who ruled a wealthy, productive land called Araterre, built up a great army and navy. He then proceeded to conquer or assimilate his neighbors. Over the next six generations, the current Empire was born. See History of the Tondene Empire.

Sports in the Empire

 

Juggernaught

Juggernaught is a contact sport, originally Orcish, but pretty popular with many people. From the Rutger Hauer movie “The Blood of Heroes”. The Game involves two armoured teams of five attempting to score by placing a wolf skull on the opposing team's goalpost. One unarmed player—the "quick"—runs with the skull while being protected by his/her teammates from attack by the opposing team.

Equipment • The skull: a "ball" made of a wolf skull.
• The posts: The goal that the skull is placed on to score.
• Weapons:
◦ Each enforcer may have any of the following combinations, with at most one double-up and one chain:
▪ A staff, 180 cm in length, with a 110 cm striking zone at one end and another in the middle, creating two distinct hand grips. Thrusting is not allowed
▪ A longsword, 140 cm in length, thrusting is allowed
▪ A short sword and shield, short sword 85 cm in length, thrusting is allowed; the shield is 60 cm in diameter
▪ Two short swords, each 85 cm in length
▪ A chain, 320 cm in length with optional 50 cm club attached to the handle end (replacing 50 cm of chain). The ball of the chain is at least 20 cm diameter.

  Traditional timekeeping is done with a gong and 100 stones: The stones are thrown against the gong to keep time. 100 stones per third, 3 thirds per game. Alternatively a drum or speaker system is used, with the drummer keeping count of each beat (known as a stone). 100 stones per third, 3 thirds per game.

Roles
A team is composed of the 8 following persons, 5 of which are allowed to be on the field:
• One Quick: An unarmed player, and the only one allowed to touch the skull
• Maximum one chain (Griffer): A player armed with a chain
• Three enforcers (Slashes, Drives, Back Charges): Armed with their choice of weapons (except chain). May handle the skull with their weapons
• Up to three substitutes, who may replace any player

Enforcers
• Slashes typically use swords
• Drives typically use staves
• Back Charges typically use sword and shield

  The objective of the game is for the team's Quick to get the dog skull, or jugg, into the opposing team's mound to score goals, while minimizing the number of goals the opposing team scores within the time limit. The enforcer's role is to defend their Quick from the opposing players.

  The Quick is unarmed and the only player who can carry the skull. The two Quicks start outside the centre circle and when the game begins wrestle for the skull. The enforcers may not enter the circle until the skull or the whole body of one of the Quicks leave the circle. A Quick’s hands and forearms are not considered a hit zone and may be used to block.

  Most games consist of three thirds of 100 stones each. Historically kept by throwing stones against a gong, now other methods such as drums are used. Stone beats are 2.5 seconds apart for matches of 100 stones per third.  

Rugby

  Similar to the Earth game, for all intents and purposes.  

Jousting

  A tournament game, played by those able to afford the heavy plate harness required to survive it. Definitely a rich person's sport.  

Boxing

  There are two kinds: bare knuckle (found anywhere, even in alleyways), and a more formal, gloved boxing. Gloved boxing is functionally similar to Earth Boxing, and is performed in a square or circular ring. Bare knuckle boxing is more common, and found in the lower class areas, where "formality" is simply acknowledging your opponent.  

Kickball

  A sport similar to soccer/football, although the Mayan game is closer. Two teams of six kick a 6" ball around a walled rectangular court. Two vertical hoops, 8" in diameter, stick out from the center of each long side. Each team has a hoop they try to kick the ball through. The hoops are usually painted the same color as the team uniforms, which are simply shorts and a tunic. Players are not allowed to use their hands, and in some games, they are shackled (not locked; these are professional players, not criminals) behind their backs. They can use any other part to touch and control the ball, but to score it must be kicked. Precision is key; the hoops aren't much larger than the balls themselves. Scoring is usually very low, and every goal is cherished, because they are rare. Average scores for a game are 2:1. As a result of the difficulty, there aren't any goalies.  

Other sports

Horseracing, chariot racing (the only use for chariots in the Empire), foot races, various competitions (throwing, lifting weights, tossing cabers, etc). When I come up with more sports, I'll add them in!