History
Present Day
By 1540 Clairnia is ruled by the usurper Meltor Fon Umerits, who seized the throne near the war’s end. To turn his people’s minds from the destruction his coup had wrought, he ordered the raising of a vast, city-sized circus that never closes - the Everlasting Circus - which stands open to this day. Under him the kingdom has begun a slow but deliberate withdrawal from the War of Horrors, turning its strength instead to political warfare: against Teremisis and the other nations abroad, and against his own great lords at home.
Geography and Climate
The Dragons’ Plain
The Dragons’ Plain is a region in northwestern Clairnia, born of the dragon wars. Its earth is scorched and smoking, yet thick vegetation grows upon it, and stray effects of dragon breath weapons erupt at random across the whole area: great pillars of ice, pools of acid, geysers of fire and of sleeping gas, a bewildering mist that turns travelers back, and plant pollens that paralyze any who breathe them. The whole region is perilous to cross or to live in, and the only ones known to frequent it are kobolds (who treat it as a kind of sacred ground), mad wizards, over-optimistic druids, and adventurers.
Demography
Population
Clairnia’s jungles and savanna hold a great mix of peoples beneath the noble houses, with humans the most numerous. Its Twisted Races are the Yuan-Ti, the Loxodon, the Tabaxi, and the Kobold - the last of whom treat parts of the dragon-haunted Dragons’ Plain as sacred ground.
Religion
Languague
Regime
Clairnia is a monarchic and feudal kingdom, where noble families rule regions of the realm in the name of the king. The King holds supreme authority, but the kingdom is functionally governed through a powerful network of dukes, barons, and counts, each managing their own holdings, responsibilities, and vassals.
- Royalty. The House of Fon Umerits is the royal family. The king or queen rules with near-absolute authority, but their power depends on the cooperation (or rivalry) of the ducal houses. The monarchy’s seat is a central symbol of unity, but it often acts as a mediator and power broker between ambitious dukes.
- Dukes (high nobility). Dukes are the regional lords who control vast portions of Clairnia. They owe military and political allegiance to the king and hold specialized responsibilities - many oversee key institutions such as magical schools, commerce, or the military - in addition to ruling their domains.
- Barons and counts (lesser nobility). Barons serve under dukes, ruling specific holdings or managing specialized tasks like artifact retrieval, religious leadership, or defense. Counts are often minor nobility or cadet branches of baronial or ducal houses, sometimes elevated through merit or marriage.
The current ruler, Meltor Fon Umerits, seized the throne in a military coup after twenty years of exile, during which all trace of him had vanished. In truth he had died, and returned to life as a vampire through a bargain with Dulahan. He now hunts his own niece, Euphemia Fon Umerits, intending to end her life and forestall a counter-coup.
Noble Houses
All dukes are listed below, along with notable baronies and counties (though not nearly all of them).
| House | Rank | Role / Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Fon Umerits | Royalty | The royal family |
| Hollow | Duke | Controls the School of Divination and wide areas of the forest; advisors to the king through their divination specialty |
| Terra | Duke | Breeders of griffons for war and transport |
| Bechdel | Duke | One of the oldest families; produce the kingdom’s food; formerly managed the coffers, until the “Return of Justice” in 1538 |
| Urume | Duke | Oversees the School of Enchantment and the College of Glamour |
| Balvado | Duke | Newcomers to power; run the prestigious Great Circus |
| Zymaris | Duke | Charged with exploring and gathering knowledge from the ancient ruins in the Boundless Jungle |
| Cartos | Duke | Skilled merchants; currently control the kingdom’s treasury |
| Smilo | Duke | Foresters and lumbermasters; rose after the fall of House Montechello |
| Gerberant | Duke | Specialists in retrieving and selling powerful artifacts; most of Clairnia’s adventuring guilds are connected to them |
| Cultris | Duke | Marshals of the kingdom; elite military commanders and one of the oldest houses |
| Toirneach | Duke | High bishops of the Church of the One God |
| Miyago | Baron | Under House Zymaris; famed for the efficient use of Loxodon jungle guides |
| Inkula | Baron | Under House Toirneach |
| Kadoo | Baron | Under House Fon Umerits |
| Elemdar | Baron | Under House Gerberant; famed for acquiring rare and dangerous artifacts |
| Ritenhaus-Delini | Baron | Formed by merging Houses Ritenhaus and Delini; under House Bechdel |
| Z’rard | Baron | Under House Fon Umerits; trainers of the Black Sun Guard |
| Ritenhaus | Count | Now absorbed into Ritenhaus-Delini |
| Delini | Count | Now absorbed into Ritenhaus-Delini |
| Abignale | Count | - |
| Montechello | Defunct | Once powerful; collapsed under debt caused by House Cartos |
| Welfsore | Defunct | Wiped out after a conflict with House Inkula |
| Kaluda | Defunct | Former vassals of House Miyago; ousted for treason |
House Hollow is the house of Warren Hollow, while the defunct House Welfsore survives only in Olita “Lady” Welfsore of the Red Hawk.
Law
Laws Regarding Magic
Foreign Affairs
Clairnia’s noble houses pursue their own foreign deals beneath the crown’s banner:
- The Golden Charter (House Smilo with the Jaknian Conglomerate) - in exchange for advanced, magically-assisted logging equipment and reforestation funding, House Smilo sells its rare woods exclusively to a Jaknian subsidiary on a fixed twenty-year term.
- The Sky-Sea Pact (House Terra with the Holy Theocracy) - House Terra provides the Theocracy’s fleet with griffon scouts and riders, while House Cartos gains favourable rates and priority access to Theocratic shipyards, letting Clairnia build a respectable navy without decades of investment.
Economy
Clairnia operates on a classic feudal economic model, where wealth and power derive from land ownership - but it is uniquely modified by magic. Rather than simply controlling tracts of farmland, each noble house controls a specific, vital economic sector as its de facto fiefdom: Duke Bechdel controls food, Duke Smilo controls lumber, and Duke Urume controls the enchanting industry. This creates a decentralized economy in which the King must constantly balance the competing economic interests of his powerful vassals.
The kingdom’s overall strategy is one of maintaining the traditional hierarchy and noble power. Economic policy is less about national growth than about enriching the individual noble houses: House Cartos, controlling the treasury, pursues mercantilist policies (tariffs, charters) that benefit the nobility as a whole, while each Duke maximizes the profit from their own domain.
Main exports:
- Food surpluses - fruits, fine cheeses, and other agricultural products from House Bechdel, sold mainly to the Lexalian Republic and Jaknia.
- High-quality lumber - old-growth timber and rare woods from House Smilo’s forests, in high demand in Jaknia and Lexalia.
- Trained griffons - a unique and highly valuable military and transport asset, sold or leased to other powers; while every nation has its own domesticated flying beasts, griffons are by far the most numerous.
- Artifacts - rare artifacts from House Gerberant’s guilds.
- Divination services - House Hollow sells political and economic intelligence to the highest bidder, at home and abroad, and divination wizards in noble service are often “leased out” to other countries.
- Enchantment & glamour services - foreign powers pay astronomical sums for the services of an Urume-trained agent, whether for Jaknian corporate espionage or a Theocratic faction quietly “encouraging” a peaceful resolution. This is an export of pure influence.
Main imports:
- Finished goods - the nobility’s taste for luxury drives imports of finished goods, fashion, and artifice from Jaknia and the Theocracy.
- Raw metals - lacking the specialized mines of Lexalia, Clairnia imports high-quality ore for its own smiths.
- Military hardware - House Cultris provides command, but Clairnia outfits its armies with a mix of domestic arms, elite Lexalian weapons for officers, and standardized Jaknian equipment for levies.
Armed Forces
Important People
Cities and Such
Points of Interest
Culture
Relationship With Magic
Clairnia
Link to originalThe Kingdom of Clairnia
Politics
Government The Crown of Clairnia Noble Houses House Terra Organizations College of Jesters College of Glamour The Warders