Estelle

Estelle
Nicknamed the "New Kingdom", Estelle was founded five hundred years ago in a region previously called the Western Provinces. The Western Provinces were primarily inhabited by humans and some species of Lycans before the founding of the New Kingdom and remains so five centuries later. Scaburh, the Magical City, is its capital and a hotbed of adventurer activity. The Scaburh contains a Collegium which is considered one of the most prestigious wizard colleges currently in existence. The Collegium and Scaburh itself pre-date the founding of the kingdom that now surrounds it. The Kingdom is divided into five duchies each governed with a dynastic family descended from the champions who defeated Norvegi. They are: House Hazan, House Estelle, House Laverne, House Udane, House Xue. A number of lesser houses exist to serve as vassals for the King and four Archdukes. The style of government is somewhat feudalistic, but without serfdom. All commoners are considered free men, and while they cannot own land (all land except for Scaburh itself is held 'in stewardship' for the Crown and the Lumenary Church by the five Houses), they are paid wages from which rent and taxes are deducted.

Races In Estelle
Humans are by far the dominant race in Estelle. Wolf, fox, and numerous other Lycans are found throughout the kingdom, most of the hiding their nature from their human neighbors. Dragonborn, Dwarves, the "half races", halflings, and elves are not native to the region but a handful from elsewhere in the Known World have immigrated to Estelle, especially to its largest cities mentioned above. Eladrin, imbued, lycanthropes, revenants, vampires and warforged are uncommon but can be found hiding in the shadows throughout the kingdom. Only Scaburh, not the rest of Estelle, has laws protecting naturally evil creatures like lycanthropes and vampires from being systematically killed if discovered; see the paragraph below.

Alignment In Estelle
Lumen is a god of Lawful Good. Its clerics, exorcists, inquisitors and paladins seek out evil-doers and evilly aligned races and combat them with zealous enthusiasm. Lawful Good precepts were the foundation of both Crown and Church Law in the kingdom. The kingdoms founders had very lofty, lawful good ideals that unfortunately often conflict with basic human nature. Still, it is very difficult to be openly evil in Estelle. Most non-humans are feared by the common people; elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings might be met with awe and wonder, but creatures like revenants, vampires, orcs, and drow are ruthlessly hunted everywhere, except perhaps ironically, in the capital city of Scaburh. The Collegium of Scaburh, which ruled the Magic City as a magocracy for centures before the collapse of the Gadun Empire, had established laws that protected all sentient creatures from being hunted within the city's domain until such a time as they acted in a way that violated city law. Being a vampire by itself is not illegal in Scaburh; killing a human being and drinking its blood because you are a vampire is illegal, however. This distinction is typically lost on the most zealous followers of Lumen, who have been known to attack anyone they perceive as "evil", including within Scaburh.

Suggested Classes/Concepts In Estelle
The Lumenary Church is the official religion of Estelle, but gods other than Lumen are still worshipped, though clerics of other faith find it extremely difficult to maintain temples except in the cities of Coastport and Bramburgh. Most of the bards, sorcerers and wizards trained in Estelle studied magic within the Collegiums found in Scaburh, Bramburgh, Coastport, or Seagate. There are a number of martial orders that range from local militia and city guards to the paladins of the Lumenry Church, knights serving the great houses, and the fabled Living Blades trained and initiated at Bladeforge. There are rumors of several organized bands of outlaws, an official thieves guild centered in Bramburgh, and a clandestine rogue society called The Veil. Rangers, druids and witches are plentiful in Estelle's expansive forests and hills. Barbarians generally come to Estelle from the Northlands, the Whispering Wastes, or the Shattered Isles. Duelists and mediums are more common than monks, the latter of whom generally come from Nok or Rajastha.