Humans of Mercia
See race page for info on attributes.
Humans are probably the most powerful race on Agon, and definitely the most numerous. Their power is concentrated in the great kingdom of Mercia, which dominates the south-eastern part of Agon’s mainland.
Mercia is a realm of knights and castles, and it is a place where the priesthood wields great power. It is also a land where nobles live in splendid luxury, supported by thralls who suffer through miserable lives.
Officially, all Mercians worship Morgaine, who is seen as the bringer of order and light into a dark and chaotic world. In reality, however, many decadent nobles have fallen under the influence of a demon prince called Malaut, while the native Imric secretly worship their own ancient gods.
One reason for the dominant position of the human race on Agon is their adaptability. In addition to being mentally resourceful, humans are equipped with a flexible physique, and genetic material that responds quickly to changing conditions.
As a result of their genetic flexibility, humans are the least homogenous of all the races. They vary greatly in height, for instance, with everything from 210 cm to 155 cm being considered normal. Female individuals tend to be shorter than males, but exceptions to this rule are plentiful.
In general, humans are more stoutly built than the mirdain and alfar, but slighter than orks and mahirim. However, since the human body is so malleable, a well-trained warrior can be as muscular as a young ork, while an untrained individual might be as slight as an alfar.
History
Slightly more than two centuries ago, explorers from the island state of Lyonesse arrived on Agon. According to ancient legends, an advanced people from the west once visited Lyonesse, and those visitors had brought magnificent gifts, like the secrets of mathematics and writing.
Upon landing in Mercia, on Agon’s southeastern coast, the explorers from Lyonesse found only the ruins of the “prosperous and peaceful land” that their writings told about. Moss-grown structures and crumbled statues were all that remained of the culture that had sparked civilization on Lyonesse.
In its place, they found a simple people called the Imric, who had little technology and lived in scattered villages ruled by tribal chieftains. The Mercians were dismayed by what they found, and upon returning to their home in the eastern ocean, they concluded that the fabled western civilization had fallen into chaos.
Only a few decades later, however, their own homeland was rocked by great upheavals. For centuries, Lyonesse had been a theocracy, ruled by clerics of Morgaine, and protected by a class of warrior nobles. But countless costly wars against perceived chaos forces had made the theocracy unpopular, and many saw the priests as too viciously single-minded in their pursuit of a society bathed in the light of Morgaine.
When the landed nobility of Lyonesse rose in revolt, they quickly gained the support of the general populace. Rampaging mobs plundered monasteries and chased the hated priests out of their communities. The instigating nobles chose a king from among their own ranks, and put him above the leaders of the church.
As she realised that Lyonesse was lost to the forces of chaos, Morgaine appeared before the leaders of her faith. She bid them build ships and set sail for the newly rediscovered western lands, where they were to set up a holy land among the savages.
A famous knight and noble, Sir John, Duke of Malregard, led the exodus. After soundly defeating a hastily assembled army of Imric natives, he founded the capital of Sanguine, and declared himself the first king of a new kingdom, Mercia.
At first, Mercia only encompassed the lands immediately surrounding Sanguine. In the following years, however, King John and his sons, John II and Robert I, steadily expanded the kingdom. Though vastly outnumbered on countless occasions, their technological, organisational and tactical superiority gave the Mercians the upper hand. They also found it easy to play native chieftains against each other, while patiently conquering their lands piece by piece.
Seventy years after the invasion, the majority of human lands were in the hands of the Mercians. Finally, the remaining native chieftains were able to unite under a single High King, called Aur the Bold. After first winning several spectacular victories, Aur was crushed by King Robert I at the battle of Dalriada. The remaining native chieftains now swore fealty to Robert, and their lands were put under the overlordship of Mercians.
The kingdom of Mercia finally stretched from the swamps of Morak to the wastes of Nagast. A majestic cathedral was built at the site of the final victory, and the king immediately started planning military campaigns against Mercia’s evil, clearly chaos worshipping neighbours. But internal trouble would halt these initiatives before they came to fruition.
Meanwhile, in Lyonesse, the Morganic faith lay fatally wounded. Other gods rose to prominence, and in time the worship of the Lady faded. Several decades passed in relative peace and prosperity.
Then the volcanic forces, which had spawned the island, turned against it. With but little warning, a large but long dormant volcano exploded, in a blast that blew half the island away, and covered the rest in lava and ashes. With a sudden blow, nature had annihilated the populous and prosperous land of Lyonesse. Today, ash-covered ruins on scattered islands are all that remains.
The Wars of Allegiance
King John I. of Mercia was a devout worshipper of Morgaine, and every battle he fought on Agon was dedicated to shining her light in the darkness. But he did not think it wise to let Morgaine’s priesthood wield as much power in Mercia as they had on Lyonesse. In short, King John wanted to establish a strong royal dynasty that could counterbalance the influence of the Morganic church. He made all nobles swear supreme allegiance to him and his heirs, instead of to the Lightbringer, as was customary, and tried to ensure that Mercia’s army would remain under the control of its kings.
When the wars against the natives were over, the church began vigorously opposing this policy. They saw the influence of Chaos in the movement away from church superiority, and finally called for all knights and nobles to acknowledge the primacy of the church, and to renounce their supreme allegiance to the king.
A long and bloody civil war followed, in which the loyalist and clerical forces fought each other to a standstill. Still the battles raged for many years, as neither side was able to break the deadlock. Then the legendary orkish warlord Yrrak the Vile seized his opportunity, and laid waste to large parts of northern Mercia. However, the Mercians finally united against the common enemy, and narrowly defeated Yrrak.
After more than a decade of uninterrupted warfare, Mercia lay in ruins. King John IV and the Lightbringer reached an agreement that included the following conditions: The first allegiance of all landed nobles should be to the king. Knights who do not own land, however, are free to choose where their prime allegiance lies. The king retains control of the army, but the church is free to administrate its own army outside the jurisdictions of the crown.
Furthermore, the church retains full authority over the holy city of Dalriada and its environs. The church promptly expanded and fortified Dalriada, then moved its administration there permanently.
Since then, a state of truce has existed in Mercia. The power of church and crown have waxed and waned with the relative strength and vitality of Lightbringers and kings. The reigning king, Henry IV, is very weak indeed, and the same could be said for the present Lightbringer, the aging and dithering Sylvain of Archos. Many speculate about the consequences if the young and ambitious High Priestess of Sanguine, Verana, succeeds Sylvain while Henry still reigns.
Society
The Kingdom of Mercia is a deeply hierarchical realm, where all power and affluence rests in the hands of a privileged minority. A king sits at the pinnacle of the pyramid of society, and under his auspices, a small class of nobles rule their fiefdoms with absolute authority. These nobles live lives of luxury, concentrating on the twin obsessions of Mercian society: warfare and courtly romance.
Beneath the nobles in rank, are a much more varied class of free men and women. The members of this class include landowners, independent farmers, merchants, and craftsmen. The level of wealth and influence varies greatly among the freemen, but they have one thing in common: As long as they pay their taxes to local lords and the crown, they are free to move about and conduct business as they please. Failure to pay taxes, or obey Mercia's laws, may result in the removal of freedom, and induction into the ranks of the thralls.
All thralls are the property of their respective lords. These people are born into lifelong servitude, a fate that their children will inherit after them. Thralls may not move without their lord's leave, and are obligated to do whatever work he assigns to them. Most thralls live in rural villages, where they work the lord's land and farm small plots where they grow subsistence crops.
The majority of Mercian thralls belong to the racial group known as the Imric. These are the descendants of the old Chaldeans, and they have dwelled in what today is Mercia since time immemorial. However, their culture fell into a long decline, and finally, approximately two centuries ago, they were conquered by invaders from the eastern isle of Lyonesse.
While some intermarriage has occurred, the Mercians generally keep themselves separate, and function as a ruling class in the kingdom. No Imric is allowed to carry the titles of knight or lord, or to serve in the priesthood of Morgaine. There are, however, a growing number of Imric among the free craftsmen and merchants of Mercia’s cities.
The Court at Sanguine
The capital of Mercia is the largest and most populous city in all of Agon. Here, throngs of poor freemen live within the same city walls as well-to-do craftsmen and the king’s court. Sanguine is a bustling, ever-changing and vibrant city, which is home to opulent wealth as well as desperate poverty.
In the heart of Sanguine lies a magnificent castle. Here, King Henry IV resides, with his wife, two children, and a large entourage of courtiers and knights.
The present king is a relatively weak monarch, who dedicates most of his time to the intrigues and excesses of courtly life. Though active in bursts, he generally leaves the running of the realm to the priesthood, and to his able and well-liked general and advisor, Simon de Soulis.
Henry IV is the ninth king of the Malregard dynasty, and he claims direct descent from Mercia’s founder, John de Malregard. Though still quite young, at 29, he has already fathered five children; three daughters and two sons. The heir to the kingdom is his eldest daughter, Isault (10), while his son John (7) is second in line. The current queen, Marianna, is a scion of one of the eldest noble houses of Mercia, and she is considered a very beautiful woman, but she is also vain and occasionally cruel.
The king is a great lover of the pleasures of the table. He has grown fat, and expends much energy on countless affairs with the ladies of the court. In his youth, the king was an avid hunter and horseback rider, but his love of these pursuits has tapered off in recent years.
Henry IV is an overweight man with a well-trimmed beard and black hair down to his shoulders. The king is a keen follower of fashion: He tries to wear clothes that are more beautiful than those worn by his wealthiest courtiers, and wicked tongues have taken to calling him “the peacock.”
The Sacred City
Far to the north, and far from Sanguine in attitude as well as distance, lies the city of Dalriada, which is the religious capital of Mercia. From here, the Morganic priesthood run their powerful organisation, and many regard this as the true centre of power in the kingdom.
Dalriada is a town of simplicity and stark beauty, and it has none of the crowdedness or architectural extravagance of the temporal capital. Here, houses are simple, and laid out along well-ordered streets centered on a central cathedral.
This cathedral, called Our Lady of Light, is the very heart of the Morganic faith. It is an enormous, many-domed structure made of white stone and crystal. Surrounding it are neat gardens and concentric, artificial waterways crossed by a arched bridges.
Dalriada is considered a holy city, and its highest authority is not the king, but the Lightbringer of Morgaine, who resides in the cathedral. Gaunt Castle, which serves as the headquarters of the White Order (see Religion and magic), overlooks Dalriada from the east.
The Army and the White Order
The roads and borders of Mercia are watched over by its army. Its fortresses stand along the borders with Mirendil and Morak, and its many guardhouses guard the King’s Roads that connect the regions of the land. While the majority of Mercian army bases stand along the borders, its headquarters are in a fortress called the Citadel of the Sun, which lies near Sanguine.
Footsoldiers in the army wear chainmail and wield longswords. They use white tabards and medium-sized shields adorned with the golden Lion of Malregard, the ancient symbol of Mercia’s royal house.
One fifth of all soldiers are archers trained in the use of the longbow. Archers carry longswords, which they draw when forced into melee combat. The officers of the army wear plate mail and use large tower shields. Their tabards are royal blue instead of white.
The army’s cavalrymen wear banded mail and wield wooden lances, which they replace between battles. In close combat, they draw longswords. Cavalry troops are frequently seen patrolling the King’s Roads.
Throughout the history of Mercia, the generals of the army have vied for power with the priests of the church. During the long and bloody Wars of Allegiance, the army supported the king’s claim to supremacy, while the church raised its own armies, and fought the king to a standstill. In the years following the final truce, the church armies have evolved into the White Order, which stands firm against further encroachments by temporal powers.
Due to corruption among army officers, the White Order recently took over city guard duties in the capital. Many soldiers whisper that the officers were innocent, and that the evidence of their alleged crimes was fabricated by the ambitious high priestess of Sanguine, Verana.
The Order of Malregard
Founded by the first king of Mercia and named after its ruling dynasty, this is the second most powerful knightly order in the kingdom. This Order tends to recruit the finest officers of the regular army, but it has been known to accept experienced adventurers as well. Traditionally, the Malregard knights tend to oppose the most extreme policies of the church and the White Order, and the organization is seen as a stabilising force in Mercian society.
The Order of Malregard is fiercely loyal to the king and his generals. Its symbol is a red Lion of Malregard wielding an axe. The Knights of Malregard wear heavy plate mail, and use silver lances. Upon engaging in melee combat, the knights draw large morningstars.
Allies and enemies
The legions of chaos are led by an entity called King Malaut. Originally, he was one of several feuding chaos princes, but most others remained for too long in the east, and faded out of existence when disaster wracked Lyonesse.
Malaut, however, followed the conqueror knights to their new realm, and is now firmly established as the leader of Agon’s chaos forces. He lives to disrupt the order established by Morgaine, and to corrupt the hearts of her most noble followers. Malaut instigates strife among the clans of Mercia, and tempts knights with promises of wealth, luxury and power.
The Chaos Prince is as a twelve meters tall humanoid clad in silver and gold plate mail. He is surrounded by an aura of immense heat that distorts the air around him, as if he were standing in the middle of a raging, invisible fire. Malaut speaks with a voice that resembles the intertwined roaring of distant fires. His sword, called Silvertongue, spews forth golden strands of chaos-matter, which tear into the souls of anyone who is struck by them.
Malaut automatically scorches everything within five feet of his body. The flames are invisible, and nothing ever bursts into flame, but Malaut still leaves a trail of burnt vegetation and blackened soil. Malaut appears as a golden-haired, beautiful male human with a disdainful expression. His facial features are slightly chubby and he has a scar under his left eye.
The Shadelands
Malaut’s stronghold is the beautiful and opulent Castle Perilous which stands at the heart of the Shadelands, a small dimension controlled by the Chaos Prince. The Shadelands resembles a petrified swamp which has had all life sucked out of it, leaving stagnant ponds and the empty husks of trees. The Shadelands are permanently covered in dense, dark fog.
The Gifts of Malaut
Malaut is the demon of excess, pleasure and greed, and he offers great rewards to those who worship to him. He commands immense wealth, and is extremely generous with his subjects, who are expected to give their loyalty in return. Malaut enjoys manipulating the debasement of his followers, and he regularly issues commands that seem designed to further deprave them morally.
The Followers of Chaos
Malaut's cause is aided by an ancient society called The Below, whose agents are secretly present in many parts of Mercian society. Although they were human once, centuries of perversion have turned the Below into twisted mockeries of mankind.
Their wrinkled thick skin is a sickly shade of greyish yellow. Their heads and bodies are completely hairless, and their large, oval eyes have vague, gray pupils which give an illusion of milky-eyed blindness.
The Below are the height of tall humans (190 - 195 cm.) but their bodies are extremely thin, and their long limbs seem stretched and vaguely elastic. They move quite gracefully, and are capable of running quicker and leaping further than ordinary humans. However, their less-than sturdy build means that they are vulnerable to physical damage.
While aboveground, the Below hide behind several layers of thick clothing. They shun the daylight and prefer to dwell in subterranean hideouts, while sending their human henchmen on aboveground errands.
The Below tend to establish themselves in dungeons, crypts and sewers near centers of human habitation. From their hideouts, they attempt to infiltrate the nearby communities, offering power and wealth to people who are willing to worship Malaut.
Servants of Malaut
Whenever they infest an area, the Below will at some point start turning people into Servants of Malaut. Human collaborators kidnap paupers, homeless people, and others who will be little missed. The Below then subject these poor wretches to a depraved ritual which turns them into undead Servants.
Religion and magic
Officially, Mercians are monotheistic worshippers of the goddess Morgaine. In truth, however, the rift between thralls and free men, between Imric and Mercian, reaches into the religious sphere. Additionally, many wealthy Mercians have taken to secretly worshipping Malaut, the Demon Prince of Greed,
According to Mercian cosmology, it was Morgaine who wrought order out of primordial chaos, and who shone light upon a darkness in which only evil creatures thrived. She is called the Lady of Light, and Mercians believe she is engaged in an eternal war against the forces of darkness and chaos.
Worshippers of Morgaine see it as their duty to aid the Lady in her struggle. They fight the armies of chaos, and seek to spread the influence of their goddess.
Morgaine appears as a tall, pale woman with long, blond hair and strikingly stern facial features. She walks barefoot in flowing white robes, wielding an ashwood staff, and wearing a silver circlet adorned with a single, azure gemstone.
The White Order
Of the Mercian knightly orders, The White Order is the most powerful. They are the military arm of the Church of Morgaine, and enforcers of the decrees of her priesthood. In practice, the Order functions as a religious police force, who fight the forces of chaos, and who seek out and destroy worshippers of Malaut and the old gods.
The leaders of the White Order are answerable only to the Lightbringer of Morgaine. No local lords, judges, or temporal knights, are allowed to interfere with the Order's doings. Its seat of operations is Gaunt Castle in Dalriada, which was built to protect Our Lady of Light, the most sacred of Mercian cathedrals.
Five years ago the White Order was given the task of policing the streets of Mercia’s capital, Sanguine. The Order has constructed a military complex just outside Sanguine, and using this impressive stronghold as a base of operations, it has brought order to the streets of Sanguine. Some complain that the methods they use are overly harsh, and that many minor lawbreakers languishing in the Order’s dungeons should be released.
The symbol of the Order is a single white rose in full bloom, usually depicted against a black background.
The Elder Gods
Many among the subjugated Imric people despise Morgaine's priesthood, which supports the kingdom's regime. They worship a pantheon of old gods, who were venerated long before the arrival of Morgaine and the Mercians.
According to the tenets of the Morganic faith, however, there is only one real god. The Mercians believe that worshippers of other gods than Morgaine are actually worshipping the Chaos Princes in disguise. Upon conquering the human lands of Agon, therefore, the Mercians outlawed the worship of all native gods.
Two hundred years later, thralls, farmers and tradesmen of native stock still secretly venerate the old gods, even though the punishment upon discovery is death. The most popular of these are Rieda, the Harvest Queen, Ardar, the war god, and Mayna, the goddess of love and beauty.
In remote villages and farmsteads, people worship this trio in secret. Sacred forest groves are popular locations for the worship of Mayna, while Rieda and Ardar are worshipped in provisional shrines that are hidden away in fields, cellars and barns.
The elder gods are worshipped through the burnt offering of animals and food. Traditionally, a priest will perform the sacrifice while the congregation stands in a closed circle around him, chanting song-like prayers.
Art and architecture
Mercian clan holdings tend to consist of a core of stone buildings surrounded by solid walls. Outside these walls stand the simple wooden and thatched structures in which the clan's thralls live. While many thralls live in abject squalor, some clans prefer to treat theirs with more fairness and respect.
All Mercian holdings contain a temple of the goddess. Usually, these are medium-sized buildings with a single dome and a broad, arched doorway. The dome is of the clearest glass and as large as possible, in order to let in natural light. A round, golden altar decorated with crystals stands in the central chamber of the church.
The heart of any Mercian holding is the keep, which lies at the centre of its walled enclosure. This solid building serves as a second line of defense, and is protected by arrow slits and a heavy portcullis. The keep contains sleeping quarters for the clan's members, stores of food and drink, as well as its meeting chamber and armoury.
Clothes
In the kingdom of Mercia, clothes reveal an individual's position within a strictly hierarchical society. Nobles and rich freemen wear colourful, expensive clothes made from the finest fabrics. Fashion changes continuously and erratically, often dictated by the preferences of the court at Sanguine. Rich Mercians spend huge sums on clothes, since they are important indicators of wealth and status.
A high percentage of Mercians are unfree thralls, and members of this class are not allowed to wear colourful garments. If a thrall wears a many-coloured outfit, or clothes made from expensive fabrics, it is considered an act of defiance against the local lord.
