Life in Qualiquerine « Thread Started on Mar 6, 2009, 11:19pm »
Qualiquerine There is no specific time period we are sticking to here, but rather a fantasy blend of all time periods, so if your character appears more modern, more western, or more medieval, all are fine and acceptable. However be aware that the people of Harmonia are more medieval, the people of Discordia are more modern, and the people of the Outterlands are more western, in appearance so finding a portrayal more toward the area in which your character lives would be appreciated thank you.
Land of Harmonia The land is primarily green, there seems to be growing things everywhere, and water, a very fertile place, like a huge garden with a few hills to keep things interesting. It's really a wonderful place to live if you like sunshine and gardens. The land is full of many beasts and wildlife, a real paradise for even magical beasties.
Land of Discordia The land is more rocky than green, things have a hard time growing here, too much stone to get through, more mountains than hills. And the storms come often in the lower lands of the kingdom, not to mention if there is wet weather at the higher elevations it can cause floods for the lower lands. But this is a land that can never be called boring, plants grow through the rocky ground determinedly, and the lightning in the storms can be quite beautiful, and in the winter the snow can be fun to play in. Only the more stubborn, sturdy, and fearsome beasts live here among the mountains and caves.
Land of the Outterlands The Outterlands are shrinking, the edges that used to be green and fertile, and the hilly areas, have all been conquered and taken over by the two kingdoms. All that is left is the central area of what was once the vast outlands, a sandy desert with a few pockets of oasis and a huge deep canyon that splits down the center with a huge river that flows from the mountains of Discordia to the lakes of Harmonia. Because of this the Outterlands are split into what the residents call Toplands and Bottomlands. Toplanders and Bottomlanders don't get along, but then they don't have to worry about that since there isn't much chance of actually crossing the Grand Canyon that seperates them. Although many Toplanders and Bottomlanders are now building cities on the canyon walls as it is safer here than in the deserts where they are under constant raid from the two kingdoms. The wildlife consists mainly of birds, lizards, and rodents, snakes, camels, and kangeroo, but occasionally other strange and magical beasties can be seen here.
Childhood (Harmonia & Discordia) As children you are taught some basic skills by your parents in order to perform certain chores, but there is no school and no educational systerm. You are usually looked after by your parents and typically once old enough work alongside them. Which is why most children go into the same profession as their parents. However some children choose to, or are so skilled at something that a noble or royal chooses for them, to place them in a mentoring program to be trained in something else.
Training (Harmonia & Discordia) Your mentor, the person(s) charged with the repsonsibility of caring for you and training you, teach you the skills you will need in order to become good at the occupation(class) you have chosen or been chosen for you. You spend years at this, usually from childhood on up to adulthood. Adulthood is reached not at an actual age, though it is most common at 20, it is actually when your mentor chooses to release you to persue your occupation on your own as an adult. If your mentor chooses to keep you under their guidance longer, then you will remain considered a child no matter how old you may be. In order for a mentor to release a child from service they must file papers stating such with the royals.
Childhood & Training (Outterlands) You are born and are raised and trained by your parents in order to help them with their occupation. There is no one to help you gain training in another class, and most are not likely to choose to take on another mouth to feed in order to train you. They all have problems of their own what with the empires of Discordia and Harmonia constantly at battle with them in order to grow the two empires. What training you get in any occupation will either come from your parents or if your miraculously lucky some being might be willing to mentor you, but there is no restricted mentorship, meaning you are a free really, as is the person mentoring you, to do whatever you wish. The Outterlands are a chaotic place, everyone is free to do what they want, whenever they want. There is no one there to protect you, except yourself, and in some cases perhaps your parents or mentor. You are essentially an adult at birth, on your own to survive and make your own choices.
Noble (Outterlands) Nobles in the Outterlands are simply those who have taken control. They are free to do what they want, when they want, including enslaving the people around them as servants to do their bidding. At least until someone comes to kill the noble that is.
Noble (Harmonia & Discordia) You, or your parents as some noble titles are handed down through generations, have been elevated to this title by the Royals after giving the royal a magical oath of loyalty, which you can not break ever. As a Noble you are responsible for taking care of and managing the servants, lands, and peasants living within the area you control for the Royal, everyone that isn't a noble or a servant is a peasant no matter what occupation they have. A noble is sort of like a manager working for the big boss. Only you are responsible for what those people you control do. Meaning if someone under your control does something wrong, then you as the noble are responsible and will most likely be punished when it is brought to the attention of the royals. You as the noble are responsible for seeing that everyone you control are housed, clothed, and fed in adequate conditions and on a regular basis. Meaning if your peasants are starving and living in leaky huts, you probably wont remain a noble for very long as someone is bound to notify the royals and you will be punished. It does not matter that these peasants have other occupations, it is the noble's job to provide for the peasants they control if they can't or wont provide for themselves. In order to do this the noble is given a certain amount of funds from the royals each month, and must budget really well so as not to mess up and be left to suffer. However a noble may also force the people living in the area he/she controls to pay a small tax, it is up to the royals to decide if the tax is too big and they only do that when they've recieved complaints about the tax in a certain area, but then if you are taxing too heaviliy the peasants aren't likely to stay in your area.
Marriage (Outterlands) There is no one to perform ceremonies, so if you say you are married, you are married. If you say you are divorced, you are divorced. It's really that simple, and that complicated.
Marriage (Discordia) Before you can wed you must have a letter of permission from the royals, usually the queen performs this task, but there is often a slight wait before this is handled. Then you must schedule a day and time for one of the Mystics to perform the ceremony. The Mystics are the only ones able to perform a marriage. And once wedded a spouse is consider the other half of a whole, you literally become one person in the eyes of those who rule Discordia. Divorce does not happen in Discordia, there is no such thing as divorce here, you are either married for life, or you die, there is no other option except maybe if you haven't sworn an oath of loyalty to the king and can leave the kingdom.
Marriage (Harmonia) Majors/Majoresses are the ones with the ability to perform wedding ceremonies. Once you have decided who you wish to wed, simply contact one of them to set a day and time. The only exception is Barons/Baronesses, as they govern land and two land holdings can not be combined, so the queen must decide which land holding the couple will continue to govern and promote another noble to govern the other land holding prior to the marriage ceremony. Divorce is rather a hassle but it does exist. The queen is the only one who can perform a divorce, and it is up to her to decide who gets what in the split, but as she is such a busy woman it is sometimes years before a divorce ceremony actually gets handled. For this reason perhaps many couples wishing to divorce have begun something they call seperation, where the couple live their lives seperately, though they can not remarry until a divorce is finalized, many find seperation the easiest way to live until the divorce is finally delt with.
(the admins reserve the right to change or add to this information at any time without notice, so check back occasionally)
Two kingdoms, Queen Meriline of Harmonia, and King Phyros of Discordia, rule the majority of the world, the other portion is the Outterlands ruled by no one. Harmonia and Discordia are at war with each other, a battle between what is considered good and evil, but those who live in the Outterlands have as yet remained neutral. To learn more read The Prologue.
![[Search This Thread]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/search2.gif)
![[Send Topic To Friend]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/sendtopic.gif)
![[Print]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/print.gif)
Author![[image]](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f26/tweety_tif/Hazel/cas1.jpg)
Logged
