Note: Reading through this is not mandatory to enjoy “The Donnerwald Experiment” to the fullest. It’s for those who want to take a step further and dive more deeply into the world, understanding some of the political motivations for some characters.
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TEUTONIA
More like a confederation of multiple states instead of a single country, it’s compareable to the Holy Roman Empire on earth.
Ruler: There’s one Emperor to rule them all and he get’s elected by the duchies of each province (still including Donnerwald). There was a longtime struggle for authority, but with the rise of Mimiken and the ban of Woy he regained the support from his people.
The ruler is also the general for the holy order and he’s expected to enter the battlefield together with his elite-soldier in times of war.
Diplomatic relations: Being the central power of the world, they have contact with each other nation.
- Donnerwald: Is their client state
- Mimiken: An “evil” country, as they plan to attack the richer lands of Teutonia.
- Kultanien: Was their biggest rival, but with the rise of Mimiken they decided to work together against the common foe.
- Zamuria: Once a duchy of Teutonia, it became the Kingdom of Zamuria after conquering enough land. Teutonia still wants them to rejoin the empire.
- Klinosra: The land of the wild, which forces them to have an army stationed in Sandwacht as they often raid the bordering towns and villages.
- Grinomika: Despite being a country which practices Woy, they stay neutral towards them as the Gri never made any hostile actions towards the empire.
View on Woy: The practice of Woy magic was deemed illegal some years ago. Several witchhunts happened with innocent people ending up getting burnt.
DONNERWALD
As the cold war between Kultanien and Teutonia reached a certain point, the southern part of Teutonia with the least infrastructure was made into a client state.
It wouldn’t be worth mentioning at all if it weren’t for the researcher guild, who had one of their seats there.
Ruler: For a long time the Duchy of Donnerwald was ruled by the Von Kaltstein family, but after a tragic accident which happened 5 years before the Donnerwald Experiment, the Prokuris took over the rulership due to having a royal marriage.
Diplomatic relations: They enjoy being protected by Teutonia while still being able to have a certain degree of freedom. They have no intentions of breaking completly free, but a certain person of the Prokuri family is ploting something.
They also allow the Doria from Kultanien to freely visit them. There were some tensions when Donnerwald offered asylum for a heretic Doria from Mimiken, but in the end there weren’t any consequences.
View on Woy: After the Mimiken Rebellion won the first battles against Teutonia, the guild was tasked by the Teutonic Emperor to learn more about Woy, it’s usage and how to counter it. Thus it’s the only place in the human world where it’s actively practiced and you don’t have to fear to lose your head.
ZAMURIA
Initially the main island of Zamuria was once part of Teutonia, but the conquest of the southern land of Klinosra made the kingdom seek indepence.
Zamurians always prefere brawling over talking. While they are not the biggest tacticians, they are known for their unbreakable morale, all thanks to the Zamurian Doctrine which allowed them win wars even when they are heavily outnumbered.
Ruler: A “normal” monarchy where one ruling dynasty usually takes the crown.
Diplomatic relations: The teutonians often knock on their door, as they want to convince Zamuria to rejoin their union. Meanwhile, Zamuria is interested in conquering the Island of Prachthafen and the Donnerwald region, so this won’t happen anytime soon. And they don’t find any friends in the people of Klinosra, as they have already stolen parts of their land.
View on Woy: They only encountered a handful of Woy users and no Zamurian person knows what it exactly is, so there’s a neutral stance towards it.
KLINOSRA
The united continent, feared for their ravaging hordes and disciplined infantry. The nation can be best compareable to the east asian cultures on earth.
Ruler: They union is always ruled by a couple where both cultures of Klinos and Nosra are represented.
If either of the two partners die, the widow(er) is expected to arrange and host a ceremony in the next few weeks. Out of the invited guests a new royal couple will be selected. The ceremony takes place in the Ziegelherz mountains and only the monks are allowed to vote. It usually depends which couple shows the most elan and trust towards each other.
Diplomatic relations: The Norsa part of the lands are rather poor, as they are filled with deserts and mountains. This often leads to raids on the teutonian lands, often Sandwacht is a big victim. They also have a big feud with Zamuria, as they annexed the southern region and took over the important trading city Zankostana. They have good relations with the Gri, as they often visit Klinos and gift them artifacts and food.
View on Woy: As they view the Gri as friends, they tolerate the practice of Woy as long as they keep it for themselves. The Klinosrans want to go and fight their own way.
GRINOMIKA
The mountainous and often cloudy region in the north, which the Gri call their home.
Many Gri live inside a creepy castle known as Noaptenburg, it’s on the backside of a mountain which protects it from sunlight.
Ruler: There are three Gri who are called “master”. They are elected and rule for their lifetime.
- The first master has to make sure all Gri are happy, have a place to live and feel secure (Protector)
- The second master is the diplomat but also works as the war-leader, if needed (Lovespreader)
- The third master regulates the research for magic and science (Progressor)
Diplomatic relations: As they are generally a peaceful and curious race, they tend to be on good terms with the humans, but have a long ongoing feud with Kultanien. Also, they stay neutrals toward the Mimiken Rebellion.
View on Woy: As they were the ones who discovered it first, they encourage the usage of Woy and other magic kinds.
KULTANIEN
The glorious empire of the Doria, ruled by the one and absolute sun-emperor.
The main capital is the pyramid on the floating Island, which they call in their language the Aurinko Talossa.
Ruler: There’s the one and absolute Sun-Emperor, who directly commands 7 priests and 12 agents. The priests are tasked to spread the word of the sun and act as governors, but also serve as war generals. The agents on the other hand are used for diplomatic and stealth missions. Also, both groups have a strict hierarchy depending on their strength and results, which encourages them to work harder to climb up on the hierarchy.
Diplomatic relations: With Teutonia, their relationship was a grim one for a long time as both nations laid claim on the Donnerwald and Waithenland area. But the war was mostly a cold one without many battles and after the rise of the Mimiken Rebellion, both nations grew closer to fight the new common enemy.
View on Woy: The Sun-Emperor declared the practice of using Woy magic as an unholy act, as it might threaten his rulership. Any person who’s caught using Woy in Kultanien will be captured and burnt.
MIMIKEN
The Mimiken Rebellion emerged after Kultanien conquered most of the Grinomika provinces.
Many Gri-Soldiers were captured in the war and Doria generals who were greedy for knowledge forced the Gri to teach how to use Woy. As information about this leaked to the Sun-Emperor, he ordered his private army to attack those heretic generals and their troops.
The heretic Doria freed the captured Gri and they became allies, fighting together against the emperor’s army. After the combat was over and the new alliance was victorious, they declared themselves free and founded the nation of the Mimiken Rebellion. They liberated the northern Waithenland region and annexed them, which results in humans also being part of their culture.
Ruler: Mimiken is a special case, as the whole country is ruled by a hierachy of warlords known as the Woyvodes. They can be challenged to a duel about the rulership, even from outsiders as long as they can use Woy and are prepared to die in battle.
Diplomatic relations: Kultanien is their arch nemesis as they broke free from the rule of the sun-emperor. But also Teutonia who recently declared the usage of Woy as illegal is a thorn to their side and it’s just a matter of time when they will conquer some of the richer lands. They work on convincing Grinomika to join their cause but without any success, as they rather want to stay neutral.
View on Woy: Woy is not only just magic for them, but a symbol for power and advancement. They are eager to spread it’s usage through all the world, be it by conquest or peaceful means (mostly conquest).
