Shazaar
The following materials are presented as part of the “Shazaarian Campaign”, by Alfs Mario Kundzins; 2021-2024
Current Arms and Armaments: (Similar to early Middle Ages) – Most knights wear Hauberk of chain mail armor. Half plate greaves and open-faced metal helm over a chain mail coif. They use Broad Sword and Long Spear for close in work. They also are skilled at using a Horse Bow – It has the same stats as a hunting bow but can be used from horseback. The standing army wares ring mail armor and open-faced metal helm with cloth padding. Their weapons are Short Spear, Falchion and Target Shield. Local militias ware leather armor and a leather helm with metal plates. They are armed with Short Spear and Target Shield or Horse Bow with a backup weapon that is usually a Light Mace. All fighting men and women are trained to be on horseback to one degree or another and often start as messengers or couriers. The best of these become part of the Harbingers or Cavalry for the King.
Clothing and Style: A Shazaarian deeds are embroidered in clothing, embossed or carved into armor, shields and weapons. Tabards show heraldry in the center for their chest and shield while deeds are placed around this. Knight’s colors are less important to a Shazaarian than what they have accomplished. The people of the eastern coast adopted more cultural influences of the Melniboneans and ware brighter colors and slightly different motifs which are embroidered. The central cattle lords take their heraldry more seriously and their bannerman all wear specific colors based on county or duchy they are sworn to. Their armor is embossed with their deeds instead of clothing. The helm is first place ware deeds are shown. Also helms tend to be closed great helms instead of open ones. The petty kingdoms of the west tend to wear less metal armor and instead use leather and carbolli. They paint their faces for battle and tattoo their deeds on one or both arms. Their attire is well made for horseback. Eighty percent of this faction is nomadic and move from place to place like their ancestors before them. They are self-sufficient and have little trade with the other factions.
Cultural challenges
The western petty kingdoms believe themselves to be true and pure. They dislike the cattle lords and see them as little more than raiders who sold out to the Melniboneans. Bitter feuds still exist along with a silent war with the corrupt cattle lords. In Shazar the petty kingdoms have the hardest standard of living with very few luxuries, which they see as pure living and look down upon softer customs. Trade with the Petty Kingdoms is difficult since the trade routes go through the Cattle Lords lands. The Eastern Coast loyalists have made tentative inroads to establishing a secret defensive alliance against the Central Cattle Lords.
The Cattle Lords control the largest lands to breed livestock and also large plots of land for agriculture. They recruit freed slaves heavily for labor and have the largest foreign population. They trade heavily with the eastern coast and have a good standard of living. Their lords are the wealthiest but also small in number. Instead, they rely on Bannerman to fill out most of their ranks with few knights and lesser nobility. Unfortunately, feuds have broken out with the Easter Petty Kingdoms. These small-scale battles and larger raids are bleeding much of the profits of the Central Cattle Lords because they have been on the losing side of 80% of the battles due to poor leadership. Also, the Western Petty Kingdoms have Priest of Grome which is used in frontline actions as Warlords.
The eastern coast or loyalist faction is the most civilized of these three factions. Many of their traditions and culture has been colored by being colonized by the Melnibonean’s. They have modeled their nobility loosely on the royalty of the once mighty bright empire. The major difference is that the duchies were awarded based on the power of the vassals holding the land rather than direct royal lines. The king of Aflitain enjoys a steady stream of support as he has brought prosperity and technology to the common folk. He has also stayed out of the war between Jharkor and Dharjor. This means his treasury continues to grow instead of being depleted with war. Unfortunately, the king has problems with his biggest rival in power, the church of Law. Lormyr has a stake in the continued growth of the church of Law in Shazar. Because of its access to the western nations and that Jharkor and Dharjor are chaos affiliated nations they hope to convert these heretics by sword and flame.
The people of Shazar are surprisingly resistant to crusading. Their depleted numbers and historic fallout from the Dharzi wars make them extremely reluctant in poking their nose in other countries affairs. They are pragmatic in their understanding that wars deplete the population and could weaken them to other outside nations. The Church of Law has three branches of service within Shazar. The Justiciar’s appointed by the king who make judgments in the courts and helps pass the kings laws. This group also has circuit judges which are sent to small outlining communities to help adjudicate laws and sentence criminals. The high priest and priests which teach and preach the gospel of Law and help the less fortunate. They are the largest in number and are the face of the church. The Inquisitor branch which are the agents of the church and the military arm to fight against the Church of Chaos and its creatures. With their paladins and knights they help dispense justice if there are gaps for criminal justice. Bishops are usually selected from the priestly orders but Justiciar’s are the one to appoint them. They are nominally equal to Count within the church and are the religious heads of cities or towns. Cardinals are the princes of the church of Law. Only four exist in Shazar at one time. Each representing one of the Gods of Law: Goldar, Arkyn, Donblas and Pozz Mann Lyrnn. A cardinal is equivalent in rank to a duke or prince of the realm within the church. They are appointed by the bishops and serve for life. The Arch Bishop of Shazar is a figure head and puppet of the Arch Bishop of Lormyr. The High Priest is special position appointed only by the priests. There is only four like the cardinal. Unlike the Bishop and Cardinals which are seen as nobility in the church, High Priests are more similar to directors who manage many priests. They also have lots of power when representing the common people.
Well educated and trained warriors who protect priests, bishops and cardinals are commonly referred to as Paladins. They are the special forces of the church of law. (Peerage equal to knights in the church) Specially blessed servants of law often with a supernatural background and who are white sorcerers are known as Archon’s. They serve as the supernatural sorcerers and warriors. They answer to Cardinals and Bishops and are just below rank of Agents of Law. They are higher in rank then Paladins.
Support staff within the church of law and who usually serve the Inquisitorial branch are known as Precepts and are only selected from noble families who have distinguished loyalty to the church. White Sorcerers are rare but do exist. They are trained within the Order of the Ivory Scroll. Their main tasks are to safe guard against forbidden knowledge of chaos and to battle other sorcerers of chaos. They sometimes ally of the Inquisitors and have been known as spies similar to inquisitors. A knightly order from Lormyr and tied directly to the church is the Order of the Sacred Cloth. Both regular knights and paladin’s can be inducted into this order as long as they worship Law. Battle Chaplin’s are ordained priests who choose to fight in the frontline of battle and take orders from secular commanders.
Canon is servant of the church who lives onsite at lawful institutions and can be priests or battle Chaplin’s. They frequently are between assigned positions but still hold rank within the church.
1. Arch Bishop (1 Only)
2. Cardinal (4 Only)
3. Bishop (Many)
4. High Priest (4 Usually but can be as few as 1)
5. Archon (varies but less than 12)
6. Priest / White Sorcerer
7. Precept
8. Paladin / Battle Chaplin
9. Canon
10. Friar
11. Devotee
12. Initiate
13. Neophyte