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The Templian Rebellion (as it was called) had several important results:
- the Juildii retreated and split into two factions, one of which believed Keplar would come again and wanted to hide and wait for his coming, the others who condemned Keplar and wanted to renounce their heritage and live amongst the humans. (NB: Juildii are all magically talented, and have a musical language with which they can paralyse humans.) Those who gave up their language and magic called themselves Quilks.
- the human leaders of the Rebellion formed "Serren", which literally means "rebirth". They built a new city, Ser Merata, on the ruins of Keplar’s City, and expanded their rule to cover the north-eastern chunk of the continent, which became the "Serrenian Empire". They started the Templian Calendar, which dates "Years of Liberation" from the Rebellion, and places New Year as an important festival in Spring.
- people unhappy with Serren migrated west and south out of its control and banded together to try and claim the land (or philosophies). The Serrenians named this entire area (the rest of the continent) "Corrid", which literally means "chaos". There ensued about two centuries of bloody chaos, then a couple more of organised bloody chaos.
During the sixth century of liberation there was a major political upheaval in the middle of Corrid. Two Magicians fought one another for a vast amount of land, recruiting armies and preaching prophecy. Efforts to halt their war and expansion were soon found to be devastatingly unsuccessful. Finally, Serren’s aid was called, but the Magicians erected a mountain barrier all around their land and locked themselves within. There their conflict continued, the Serrenians and the Corrish warily avoiding the new land of QUOXLEY. This is actually two separate countries: Quox in the west, a patriarchy; and Ley in the east, a matriarchy. Both are extremely militant, extremely heirarchical, and both are still run by Magicians.
If you look at the map, you’ll see Quoxley divides Corrid, and so politically this is what happened. In Northern Corrid all the war alliances broke down and society became fairly tribal. In Southern Corrid the alliances persisted, resulting in eight counties loosely controlled by a King. Erannon is fostered in ILLANDIN county, the poorest county of Southern Corrid. JEMPARA county holds the throne, though there serious issues of succession and Cesira county is busy plotting. Young Prince Doiric (at 13) is the last surviving male of the royal family of Jempara (yes, it’s patriarchal) and most people expect he will be assassinated by the Cesirans.
There are four tiers of society in Southern Corrid, each with their own culture and customs: Nobles, Merchants, Traders, and Peasants. Nobility is limited to the ruling families of each county (eg. the Royal Family of Jempara), their power is mostly in land and arms and tradition. Merchants are rich overlords of trade, who specialise in distributing and controlling certain markets: eg. cloth. Traders are artisans (eg. Blacksmiths, Herbalists, Woodcrafters) and are rigidly arranged into Guilds. They frequently own their own farms/workshops, and perpetuate their Crafts through an Apprentice/Master institution. Monisk is evidently a Trader, a status which Erannon then inherits, and as is expected she becomes an Apprentice. Peasants are farm-labourers and other unskilled workers - in Marxist terms, the proletariat. These four groups are not just economic divisions, they are almost exclusive societies and different rules apply. Serren also has Noble/Merchant/Trader/Peasant societies, but their roles aren’t necessarily the same.