Mankind: The Kingdom of Brandury

Formed by the Brandur and Vindel folk during the rise of Mandoria, the distant kingdom of Brandury is the easternmost nation formed by the old lands of the heathen south. The people there are a tall folk with primarily dark colored hair and fair complexion, their eyes are brown and green, and often they possess features that associate them with some of the ancient brood of southern badlands. Some of them possess more red skin, and more curly hair.

The Brandur and Vindel folk were established traders, running ships across the world during the late age of Bacharium. With its fall, they would establish trade routes in supplicant to its fall, and - when trade in an area wasn’t feasible - would often raid its neighbors. It has, in this way, established fair and poor ties with many folk, often better ties with its culturally similar southermen. In one particular oddment, it has fostered trade relations with Sabbaht, and for a period of time, Vindelland provided it with fresh slaves for its markets - making it a financial power.

It has a proud industry that enterprises wholly on its trade. It has attempted to remedy past relations by stemming wholly beneficial alliances, keeping few enemies. The removal of slavery from within its midsts was the harshest part of its inception, but with advances in educational institutions, the practice in itself became less profitable. Indentured servitude is still a practice in the society, but indentured servants cannot be sold, and in many ways have all the same rights as a free man.

The god of Brandury is Elhas the Sea Maiden. She is the patron of song, of fruitful endeavor, and growth. She is wife to another god, but she has the primary power of the household, and is often most respected. Her favorite pass-time is solving riddles, and many of the Brandur folk prize their cunning wit, their social skill, and cultural expression. Even the poorest of the Brandur seem to have a hobby they spend time on. Brandury happens to possess an unique type of magister, when the uncommon person in their society possesses it; the innate ability to communicate with beasts, wildlife, and the forces of nature.






In the earliest histories of mankind, Brandury's modern lands are lost. The cradle of civilization being far to the north, the ancient-most connections that are written of happen to be in the classical period with Stygia's reign as a super-power of the ancient world. They had traveled south and often made slaves of the barbarian folk there, but also trading for slaves that they had kept themselves, and at times hiring them as mercenaries to bolster their own armies.

These were the Vindels, primarily, and the Stygian society would give them power that would last the rest of their days. Inspiring in them economic well-fair and trade-interest, the Vindels would be the best prepared of the southern peoples for extended travel by sea and land for trade. They would move on to trade beyond Stygia, and with the whole of the southern realms. Rare shells and fish from the Endsea have been documented being traded as far as Akkad.

Alongside the Vindels are the Brands, or Brandur, and they would be another prominent fixture in the forming of Brandury. Dwelling in mountain valleys, foothills, and broad dales in their homeland adjacent to the Vindels - the Brandur were formidable rivals for trade and resources. In antiquity it is arguable that the two were not on satisfactory terms, due to the volume of slaves kept by both people - attained by warfare. The Brandur did not develop mercantile success as the Vindels did, nor enterprise on the sea for more than fishing. Instead they developed strong mineral wealth and defensible construction. The neighbors would stand complacent at each others borders, wars only breaking out hesitantly, for fear of their equal power. Where the Brandur had vast resources and rugged land, the Vindels had economic power and ease of transit.

With the fall of Bacchus in the late antique and early medieval period, these two neighbors would be distant from much the raiding and conquest of the north. Brandur would raise tithes for summer raids that requires navigating precarious mountain passes. The Vindels would sell ships and loan shipwrights to the courts of its southern neighbors. Brandurland and Vindelland would produce peace agreements during this time, protecting their trade, and establishing agreed upon terms for warfare when it would break out.

The distinct change from Stygia to Sabbaht would prove a notable one for both peoples. Sabbaht would be at large an enemy to the state, with its hostile views towards other nations - those who did not share the worship of Sep. Though, Sabbaht would still stimulate the economy of Vindelland. For, under the new priesthood, eventually the society would stop claiming slaves by war - for diplomatic reasons. Still, they would actively enslave their own people as a punishment for civil disobedience, and greedily buy up foreign slaves. Vindelland had long stopped taking slaves, but its ally Brandurland would still possess slaves until the late medieval period.

In the late medieval and modern periods, the aristocracy of Brandurland and Vindelland would be very interconnected by marriage, and a score of political alliances would eventually result in the merging of the two countries into a finalized mini-empire, known as Brandury. The cultural identities of both peoples exist plainly within the nation, and it enterprises on both of their strengths to stand stead-fast against their weakness. Sharing in southern cultural values of similar type, their clergy changed little - if at all - from the joining.