Kairann

Kairann is a country located in the central northern regions of the continent. It shares land borders with Cieclya to the east, over the Mountains of Dawn. To the south they share borders with Kailaraith via the Northcrown Mountains, and with Werissa. The north and west of the country are bordered by the ocean. Due to the mountainous terrain to both the east and the southwest, entrance to Kairann is limited to the coast, and via Werissa. The country is comprised of the Jade Forest, as well as an area of grassland hills between the forest and the Mountains of Dawn. Some are of the country is taken up by the Sea of Akes, leaving them with a little less land than their territory may imply.

Politics
Kairann is an absolute monarchy, with communistic tendencies within it's communities. The king rules the country with near total control, with only member of the Knightly Orders being immune to the laws of the king. In practice this has lead the king to have a largely symbolic role, dictating only the requirements of the orders. This causes the king to largely only push particularly intense crimes, such as murder, to be made illegal by each order, as well as instructing the economic laws, which officially provide over the trades themselves and not any particular individual, making them applicable to members of the orders.

On a regional scale laws are handled by the leaders of each Knightly Order. The lord of the order is officially only able to govern the laws of members of his order, with any outsiders falling to the King's Law. This system originally was made to exempt the knights from common responsibilities, as a matter of separation from the common folk, however over time more and more commoners who worked for the Orders were allowed to join, until the modern configuration was reached, where almost every citizen is a member of the Knightly Orders.

Social Classes
Kairann is broken into four distinct social classes, though they are commonly mistaken for having only two. The highest social class is the Grand Knights. This covers the highest ranking classes, including the king, the lords of most orders, as well as decorated veterans and their heirs. Grand Knights are characterized primarily by their wealth, being capable of keeping magical equipment well maintained, as well as a castle or manor, and providing for families without any concerns. Grand Knights commonly own large areas of land, and are funded by taxes from the commoners to maintain their position.

The second social class is that of the regular Knights. The regular knights comprise just under half the middle class. They're characterized by the possession of arms, armor and commonly a horse. They make up the majority of the ranks of the Kairann military, and for this they are typically rewarded with small holdings. These holdings are rarely enough to rent out and thus are commonly used as housing. In absence of rents to fund them Knights depend upon salaries for military service, and during times of peace, tournaments, patronage from rich merchants, or mercenary and adventuring work. For this reason most knights have little in the way of actual currency on hand, most of their wealth tied up in their gear.

The third class, and the first of the two commoner classes is the merchant class. They make up the other half of the middle class, and regularly get intermingled with knights. They're characterized primarily by wealth, and the absence of military training or equipment. Merchants make up an essential part of the realms economy, and without their presence the kingdom would collapse. Many of the successful merchants host tournaments for the amusement of their fellows, and the commoners, as well as helping to sustain the knights financially. Some merchants who cannot afford to host tournaments instead choose to sponsor a knight, or their family. This commonly comes as part of a marriage deal, either marrying the merchants daughter to a knight, or a knight's daughter to the merchant's son. The daughter of a knight as a wife is something of a point of pride among merchants, and such an arrangement can prove very profitable for the knight's family.

The final, and lowest, class makes up around seventy percent of the population. They are the commoners who work the fields, as well as craftsmen and skilled laborers. Commoners are rarely abused by the upper classes, but as times get tough the commoners are the first to suffer. The commoner class largely admires the knights, and many dream of becoming one. Though not common, it's not a rare case to hear of commoners saving money to purchase some minor equipment and setting out as adventurer's to become knights, and a small portion of the knight class is made up of elevated commoners.

Gender Roles
Gender roles in Kairann are, for the most part, very loosely defined. Amongst the commoners there's too much work for it to rest on the back of just one gender, and as such everyone carries a share of the work. Often within a family there is a master and an assistant, with the master having the expertise of the craft, or doing the heavy work on the farm, while the assistant handles the more minor jobs. In farming communities the master is always the man of the family, however in crafts the exact set-up varies, depending upon which order the commoners belong to. In the Order of the White Sword for instance, only men are allowed to practice crafts, with women providing the supporting jobs, while the reverse is true in the Order of the Swan. Throughout the other orders the details of who takes on the master role is more varied, however men are more likely to be the master in any given arrangement. Some families buck this role, with both the man and the woman taking on a role of master, and performing their own menial tasks. The Order of Akes is the most well-known for this phenomenon.

This gender equality is also present in the Knights class, with both men and women filling up it's ranks. As with all things, the division of gender among knights varies from Order to Order, with the Order of the White Sword being the only order to outright forbid female knights. Likewise, the Order of the Swan forbids all male knights, while every other order maintains a split of some kind. The ranks of Grand Knights are largely comprised of older men, however the Order of the Swan serves to balance the numbers a bit, and a few orders have one or two female Grand Knights such that it is not an uncommon sight.

The most male dominated class is that of the merchants. While many women do technically belong to this class, it is as the wives and daughters of successful male merchants, and rarely as merchants themselves. This is due to the international nature of the merchants dealings making the possible exclusion of women from lucrative business deals a serious concern, as well as the privileged and selfish culture that has developed around the merchant class, pushing many men to attack and exclude their female counterparts. As a result, the successful female merchants of Kairann are among the most formidable in the world for being able to survive, and even thrive in such a hostile environment.

Races
The population of Kairann is almost entirely made up of a human population. In the coastal cities elves are a very common sight, though a small portion of them are permanent residents, and while no elves are considered Grand Knights, there are some who are knights, and awarded all the rights and responsibilities of such. In the southern cities, near the Northcrown Mountains, there is a settlement of Lumsbaordk dwarves. In true Lumsbaordk fashion, most of the dwarves are knights.

Religion
Belief systems in Kairann varied wildly between each village and order prior to the revelation of the Soul Beacon. The only point of consistancy was the belief in an afterlife where everyone who was honorable was granted his own fiefs, as if he were a Grand Knight in the kingdom of the afterlife. Honorable acts were not defined by combat, but by acting to ones station. A knight who showed bravery was considered honorable, however for a commoner bravery was not important, though hard work and dedication to his lord was. While this understanding of the afterlife has changed, the notions of honorable acts remain, and are a defining point in how citizens of Kairann show their piety.

Economy
Kairann's primary coinage is the Silver Shield. It is currently valued at an exchange rate of 17 Shields to one Gold Plain. Like every country, the coins of other countries are accepted in places of Shields, and it is not unusual for commoners to never deal in Shields.

Kairann's most valuable industry, and it's largest export, comes from the titular jade of the Jade Forest. The numerous Jade mines located throughout the forest provide the basis for many jewelry crafters. The unique, and exotic nature of jade makes is a very valuable export, and much of the economy of Kairann depends on this industry. The largest industry in Kairann is agriculture, which comprises the profession of approximately half the population. Kairann grows an abnormally large amount of fruit, a sizeable portion of which is exported to Cieclya and Werissa, and further afield for the upper classes, with the assistance of magic. The Northcrown Mountains contains large amounts of silver in the Kairann regions, the mining of which provides a strong industry. Silverware, as well as silver weapons and armor for decorative purposes are primary exports. The majority of knights use equipment lined with silver for this reason. Finally, the local wood industry is sufficient for the average citizen, however with Cieclya so close Kairann has very little wood exports.

Organisation
Kairann's military forces are made up entirely of knights of the Knightly Orders. Each Order fields it's troops in the same unit, and so a typical army is comprised of one or two large blocks of a few thousand knights, and complimentary units of under a hundred knights. If there are too many knights in a single unit, sometimes an order will break itself into two or three units, but they rarely split up more than this. The average army of Kairann numbers around 5000 knights, however they have fielded armies as large as 40,000 knights in history. Typically such armies involve the presence of all eight of the major Knightly Orders.