The World

Terra Dei, referred to as Terra by most inhabitants, and only as Terra Dei on official documents is a massive landmass ruled by 8 Great Houses with a Queen or King elected by the 8 Houses (elections every six years, up to a maximum of two terms, with members of the opposite sex choen from the current monarch).

 

The year is currently 3425 TD (Terra Dei) time. It has been 3425 years since the houses finally managed to come together cohesively to have elections by historical reckoning. Since then there have been many changes, the first houses lost, some remembered only in the written texts of history. 

 

Current Queen Elect: Ris A`Dea (Every Queen takes the last name A`Dea, and every King takes A`Deus, while a Crown Royal would take A`Deae)

 

Current Consorts: Arburin (Male Of House Andorian) and Nissa (Female of House Felis)

 

She is currently into the third year of her reign, elected when she was 25 years of age. 

 

Many lower houses all vie for position, but the eight Great Houses have not changed in over a thousand years. Every member of the house has a tattoo somewhere on their body, some small, some quite large, but all unique to the person that has it.

 

Each house has a Matriarch and a Patriarch (or a Parriarch taking the place of one), with the Matriarch in higher standing than a Patriarch. The Matriarch is typically elected upon the death or the stepping down of the previous Matriarch, with the exception of House Andorian, where the Matriarch is the strongest fighting female. The Patriarch is usually also voted in, but can be chosen by the Matriarch and is usually the one male that demonstrates the strongest attributes of the House, and it is a position that changes with some frequency. (Only the Patriarch of House Andorian is won, usually by the strongest fighting male.) The Patriarch is rarely her Consort and they are not expected to sire children together, only to care for the members of the House.

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Their society is largely matriarchal in nature. As such there is no concept of bastards or illegitimate children, nor a Madonna-whore dichotomy. Marriage as such does not exist, but there is a contractual arrangement known as Consortship. 

 

The City

Pax is the main city of Terra Dei and arranged in concentric circles. At the very heart of the city is the house where the King or Queen resides. In the circle around that is where the eight Great Houses make their home. The following circles have the Healing houses, the lesser Houses -- including the cloth makers, the merchants, etc - as well as the markets, commoner housing, etc.

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In all other major cities, there is a residence for the King or Queen in the very center, and minor branches of the eight major Houses in the innermost circle. It's only the lesser Houses and commoner housing that changes depending upon city. 

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The approximate population of Pax is currently 1,500,000 people. 

 

Tes

The westernmost village of Terra Dei before one enters the domain of Queen Sikys. 

 

The other nations

To the West is Queen Sikys in the land known as Marē.  Very little is known about her, or her people, or their military movements.  It is known that she is frequently accompanied by another woman, who many believe may be her consort. 

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To the far North/Northwest and on the other side of the mountain range known as the Teeth of the Moon is King Dante Oathborne. Every year the treaty with his country, Svorolds, is renewed without incident, to the point where a diplomatic attache is not needed, only someone to record the updating of the date. There are persistent rumors that he is also at war with Queen Sikys and has been for years. The capital of Svorolds is Last Hearth, placed at the top of a mountain within their Kingdom. 

 

To the southwest on a separate island is Aeshlnyr, headed by the Royal Jer. They rarely venture into the temperate lands of Terra Dei and prefer their icy clime.  There is no treaty with them, but there is also no war, and no interest on either side to pursue the latter.

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To the West/Northwest of Marē is the continent Kmet. There are 9 countries within Kmet, each rumored to be ruled over by a different sister.  There used to be whispers and echoes of them having altercations with the Northern Sea Company and the pirate flotilla until they were met with the Dread Queen.  Very little is known about her. 

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To the west of Kmet are several archipelagos and the Kingdoms of the Skê. They infrequently travel as far as Terra Dei, and frequently seem to be at war with one another. 

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On the open seas there is the pirate flotilla, a loose grouping of 80-100 ships that will lash themselves together when they meet to form one huge flotilla before splitting up again to continue on their way. 

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Far to the north off the tip of Svorolds is the land of the Solgna. They are believed to be the home of the Northern Sea Company and the pirate flotilla.