WorldHistory_Condor

=__The Kingdom of Kondore__=

Located far to the Southeast, most of Kondore is a dense jungle called the Kondorean Jungle. It is ruled by a king and a very organized and efficient army, patterned after the Romans. They have very dark skin and very little is known about them. They have fought skirmishes with the orcs in the mountains on their northern border for generations, and some small battles with the Khanate. They also fought along with the Eastern Empire in the far past during the early invasions, but seem to be free from Eastern influence now. Their jungles and the distance have separated them from other civilized cultures until recently, creating many differences in culture and lifestyle. They have trained many of the native forms of reptiles to do their bidding, including both walking and flying mounts. Darkwood is grown there, a stronger and lighter wood that is superior to most other woods in every way, and darkwood shields are becoming a valuable trade commodity.

While they were still neutral in the last war ended by the Comet, the change in weather patterns turned the southern part of their kingdom, south of the Southern Ridge into desert, the Comet's Blight, with massive migrations and social unrest. They too are just now recovering from those difficult years and regrowing in their strength.

Below update: 11-March-2011 per email from Tom the DM  KINGDOM OF KONDORE TYPE OF GOVERNMENT: Elective Monarchy CURRENT RULER: Nebka

The head of each of the 22 Churches gets a vote to pick a new ruling blood line; they must have 13 votes for a new ruler to be chosen, they keep on voting dropping the one with the fewest votes every time. This is done any time a King dies; the Nebka line has ruled since the comet. If the Church's can get 15 votes together they can replace a living King, this law is in place in case the King can no longer perform his duties. The only limit on who the blood line can be is that it cannot be a church member. The head of the army must be a Noble, a Duke cannot hold this position. Only Nobles can hold a position of leading any of the army at any time. This includes law enforcement which is considered a branch of the army.

THE COUNCIL: The King then appoints who he wishes to the offices of the King: Treasury, etc.

NOBLES: At this time there are 11 Dukes who rule over 11 counties. Each Duke has a number of untitled Nobles that he rules over, each Noble either governs a portion of a county, or in charge of law enforcement, etc. Only Noble blood can be in charge of military force!

CHURCH: No one church seems to be in charge. From what outsiders can tell each church has an almost equal power in the kingdom.

LAW: Law enforcement is considered part of the military. The Judges are appointed for life by the local Noble, with the Duke's judge acting has a higher court. The King also has a judge in his court that can oversee the lower courts. A judge has been appointed by the King to run the trading outpost area with all outsiders, and the judge appears to go out of his way to be lenient to people not from Kondore's culture, so no one know for sure how the law is performed inside the Kingdom.

ECONOMY: The kingdom seems to have a very open no-holds-barred economy, with anyone able to make money. The culture appears to have a heavy dislike for guilds and none are known inside the kingdom.

CULTURE: There is some sort of caste system inside Kondore, how you become placed into a caste is unknown or if it is a mobile society, possible to move from caste to caste. It seems to be a very simple system from the outside with caste, Noble, military, church, workers. The people of Kondore do not like to discuss the caste system with outsiders. Overall the Kondorian's seem very eager and open to trade and deal with all outsiders, including orcs! But at the same time they seem untrusting when it comes to what happens inside the Kondore kingdom, limiting travel to just the outer areas of their territory, which includes the merchants. All people must get a special pass to travel inland and only a few have been granted.