Belsegallia (Aurora)
Kingdom of Belsegallia Belasegaiya Koletsa | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| History | |
| Location | Auroran Sky |
| Notable castles |
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| Places of note |
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| Government | |
| Type | Absolute monarchy |
| Ruling House | L’aderina |
| Head of State | Queen Xana |
| Head of Government | Archduchess Hana L’orika |
| Legislature | Mages’ Circle |
| Military | ~8,000 women |
| Socio-cultural characteristics | |
| Capital | Terenata |
| Official languages | Belsedori |
| Races | Belsedori |
| Religion(s) | Belsedori Ditheism |
| Demonym(s) | Belsegallian |
| Population estimate | ~2.0 million |
| Currency | Aiya |
”Of the many realms described in this tome, the kingdom (the little information that I have at hand suggests that this is a misnomer) of Belsegallia remains one of the most enigmatic. What rumors and myths have reached me are vague, fantastical, and often contradict each other, though some common themes are present; the most believable of the stories regarding its inhabitants describe them as a cryophilic, harpy-like people (as is suitable for inhabitation of an aerial environment) with a notably high aptitude for all manner of magical arts.—Darius of Reva, Atlas of Realms
Belsegallia (Belsedori: Belasegaiya), officially the Kingdom of Belsegallia (Belsedori: Belasegaiya Koletsa) is an absolute monarchy located in the southeast of Terra Aurora. Its territory is entirely composed of magically levitating landmasses of various sizes, with the eponymous land of Belsegallia being the largest; the climate on them is perpetually freezing year-round due to the high altitude that they reside at, and Belsegallia is perpetually blanketed with permafrost and snow.
The primary race inhabiting Belsegallia is the harpy-like Belsedori, which constitutes the vast majority of its population. Other races suited for living in cold, high altitude environments also possess a token presence in the form of merchants and other travelers, though typically not on a permanent basis.
Etymology
The etymology of the name “Belsegallia” is obscure. The closest matching word in Belsedori is “Belase”, which translates to “snow”; however, because the climate of Belsegallia was relatively temperate for most of its history, this connection is tentative and considerable debate between scholars exists regarding whether the two words are actually related.
The full official name of the Belsegallian state as rendered in the Belsedori language is “Belasegaiya Koletsa”, the purely literal meaning of which is “Monarchy of Belsegallia” or “Rulership of Belsegallia.” The most common phrase used in other languages, however, is the technically erroneous “Kingdom of Belsegallia”; this is theorized to be the case for a variety of reasons, such as retention of older usage or the maintenance of naming standardization with other monarchical states that use the much more widespread “kingdom” label.
History
Founding
Circumstances surrounding the founding of what would later become known as the “Old Kingdom” of Belsegallia are obscure. Sparse archaeological evidence and ancient records suggest colonization of the future Belsegallia Island and nearby smaller islands by humans approximately 1,000 years ago, but their origins remain unclear.
The Old Kingdom
The Larinata Disaster
Reformation of Belsegallia
Current Events
After the reconstitution of the new “Kingdom” of Belsegallia under Queen Xana approximately 300 years ago, the nascent state has largely elected to remain on its island and avoid becoming entangled in international affairs. Most of Belsegallia’s foreign interactions have only occurred within the last five years, and generally center on the establishment of organized trade.
Geography
The territory of the Kingdom of Belsegallia encompasses two large, magically levitating landmasses near the southeastern corner of Terra Aurora. The large primary island is normally referred to as simply Belsegallia, or sometimes as Belsegallia Proper in order to distinguish it from the Kingdom of Belsegallia; the smaller island neighboring it to the southwest is named Yusugo. Both landmasses reside at an average altitude of roughly 6,000 meters above sea level, although some minor habitable satellites made from levitating rocks, enchanted clouds, and other magical substances can be found as high as 7,500 meters or as low as 5,000 meters above sea level. Aside from the Ghratos Union, which distantly neighbors it to the south-southeast, Belsegallia has no cohesive states within its general vicinity and is largely geographically isolated from the rest of Terra Aurora.
The terrain on the eastern half of Belsegallia is largely flat in nature and extends as two long arms around an “inlet” that reaches in from the northeastern edge. The western half, running from near Terenata to the western end of Belsegallia, is significantly more mountainous and has an average altitude of roughly 300-400 meters above the eastern half. The highest point of altitude on a permanent landmass in Belsegallia is the top of Mount Yoruku, which reaches an average height of approximately 7,600 meters above sea level.
Most rivers in Belsegallia, although relatively short due to the small distance between most of the landmass and the edges, are greater in depth and volume of water than they otherwise would be due to the frequent, intense rain and snow storms that Belsegallia receives. Rivers are not normally navigable due to the layer of permanently or seasonally frozen ice covering them.
Climate
The entirety of Belsegallia has an alpine climate due to the high altitude at which it resides, with some notable differences due to a variety of magically precipitated phenomena. All seasons in Belsegallia are marked by a combination of sub-zero temperatures, anomalously high humidity, and often stormy conditions; the mean ambient temperature oscillates between roughly -20°C in summer and -40°C in winter, but can reach as high as -10°C or as low as -65°C in certain conditions. Winter conditions freeze more snow and cause significantly more blizzards, whereas summer melts non-permanent ice cover and is associated with more rain. Localized magical effects on water result in the presence of two different ice melting points for Belsegallian weather at 0°C and -30°C, which causes substantial disruptions in weather patterns and facilitates highly abnormal types of precipitation.
Ecology
due to a variety of environmental factors, including year-round extreme cold weather, low air pressure, an aerial environment, ground-obscuring snow cover, and high ambient magic, ecology in Belsegallia presents a wide variety of plants and animals not found elsewhere in Terra Aurora. Many native inhabitants, including unique species of birds as well as more fantastical beings like the four-winged moa and the Belsedori, are capable of flight in order to navigate; other adaptations for cold, snowy, and high-altitude environments are a necessity and are universally present in even flightless animals. Utilization of the ambient magic around Belsegallia is also present in some cases.
Fauna
Fauna in Belsegallia is highly varied in morphology, and includes a variety of unusual species. Common wild animals in forested regions include the four-winged moa, a 2.5 meter tall herbivorous bird with four wings, and the giant, tree-eating Fir Spider. An unusual type of wild boar also resides on Yusugo.
Flora
Perpetual, thick snow cover is the largest impediment to the growth of any kinds of plants in Belsegallia’s ecology, and local flora is structured to avoid, circumvent, or sometimes utilize this barrier. Rather than the green leaves typical to other plants, the leaves of Belsegallian flora are often lavender or blue in color and covered in small crystalline formations resembling hoarfrost. Tree species such as the Belsegallian Pine possess crystal-like needles for leaves and grow by spreading through roots rather than dropping seeds onto the ground. Flowers like water lilies roughly resemble their terrestrial counterparts, but grow underwater due to permanent ice cover on rivers and possess the same hoarfrost-like crystals as other Belsegallian plants.
The unofficial national flower of the Kingdom of Belsegallia is the Glass Lily, which grows on various rocky, semi-vertical faces of mountains. Glass Lily blossoms are made of thin, vitreous petals and are highly prized for usage as alchemical reagents and as hair ornaments for Belsedori consorts.
Politics
Government
Belsegallia is an absolute monarchy governed by a queen (Belsedori: Kinna) as the hereditary head of state position, the title of which is passed from the reigning monarch to her eldest daughter or most closely related female relative. The queen controls Belsegallia’s foreign policy, national budget & military, and other high-level government business, and is also responsible for managing and overseeing the rest of the nobility. Although nominally highly centralized in structure, most governing power over day-to-day affairs is delegated by the monarch to the six constituent duchies of Belsegallia and from them to the roughly ten countships that compose each duchy.
Belsegallia is a matriarchal absolute monarchy governed by a female head of state referred to as a queen (Belsedori: Kinna), the title of which is hereditary from the current holder to her eldest daughter or otherwise to her most closely related and eldest female relative. The reigning queen is responsible for high-level policymaking regarding the foreign policy, national budget, military, and economic management of the Belsegallian state, as well as for management and oversight of the subordinate nobility. Although nominally highly centralized in authority and governmental structure, authority to manage most day-to-day affairs is commonly delegated from the monarch to Belsegallia’s six constituent duchies and their subordinate counties.
Belsegallia is a unitary state possessing six duchies and 71 counties that comprise its first- and second-level subdivisions.
Foreign Relations
Logistical difficulties in travel and goods transport between Belsegallia and ground level, as well as notable socio-cultural incompatibilities between the native Belsedori and most terrestrial races, have obstructed the establishment of continuous foreign relations between Belsegallia and terrestrial states for several centuries. This has begun to slowly change in recent years as diplomatic visits have facilitated the growth of normalized trade with the Ghratos Union and Rocova, though Belsegallia continues to remain a largely insular state.
Military
Economy
The economy of Belsegallia is heavily influenced by its geographic circumstances and is centered around the usage of magic to manufacture raw materials and goods due to a lack of conventional natural resources like copper and iron. Due to these resources’ localized rarity and the extreme difficulty of transporting them by air, most manufactured goods in Belsegallia are instead made with alchemically created metals and other raw materials. Most foreign trade by Belsegallia involves the sale and purchasing of magical substances, enchanted tools, trinkets, weapons, and apparel, and other relatively small durable goods that can be practically moved to and from Belsegallia in economically significant volumes.
The economy of Belsegallia is a relatively wealthy mixed economy primarily centered around the usage of various magical processes to manufacture both finished goods and raw materials.
Agriculture
Agriculture in Belsegallia is governed heavily by the icy, high-altitude environment that predominates in its territory. Due to the continual presence of snow that prevents the growing of most grains and vegetables, most commonly grown food crops are fruits from trees; widely cultivated examples include the potatofruit, the Yata, and the icefrond. Some herbs and other non-woody plants are seasonally farmed in the country’s far east, where snow cover melts for part of the year, although they remain specialty products that are too rare for everyday usage. Various kinds of flowers, the Belsegallian types of which grow on trees and in bodies of water like lakes and slow-moving rivers, are cultivated and preserved for usage both as decorations for clothing and as reagents.
Animal husbandry focuses on the Four-Winged Moa and the Fir Spider, which are raised for feathers, silk, and wool in addition to meat; Belsegallian culture has strong taboos against consuming milk from animals, and dairy animals are not raised in Belsegallia as part of agriculture.
Manufacturing
Mining
Mining in Belsegallia is limited in scope due to the restricted availability of suitable ore and stone deposits. Most “mined” goods in Belsegallia consist of a variety of types of magical crystal which are harvested for trading and enchanting from specific locations where they coalesce.
The most notable type of magical material harvested in Belsegallia is the crystal known as Witch’s Tourmaline, which is used extensively in Belsegallian manufactured goods and of which Belsegallia is the only known source. The largest single concentration of Witch’s Tourmaline is in the region known as the Tourmaline Wastes, in the Duchy of Larinata, but smaller deposits coalesce in a wide area and may be found throughout Belsegallia.
Demographics
The native inhabitants of Belsegallia are a race of cryophilic, semi-avian humanoids called the Belsedori, also sometimes colloquially known outside of Belsegallia as “Snow Harpies.” Belsedori comprise 99.97% of Belsegallia’s permanent population and hold all positions of importance within its government, economy, and religion.
Language
The only language spoken commonly in Belsegallia is Belsedori, the associated language of the eponymous race. Belsedori script is read from right to left and from up to down, and with few exceptions generally relies on characters representing either a vowel or a consonant followed by a vowel. Characters are often wavy and rounded, with few sharp turns; most can also be written with one quill stroke.
Belsedori words have genders that are indicated by the vowel sound of the ending character; personal names in Belsedori also follow this rule, and married couples almost always have a slightly different family name.
Belsedori as a language is particularly notable for the incredibly wide variety of diminutive suffixes, titles, phrases, and pet names that speakers use to refer to or address male subjects. Pet names in particular often have a figurative meaning that greatly diverges from the root words’ literal meaning, e.g. “Ayashirie” (fig. “Honey”, “Dear”, lit. “Toy”, “Doll”, “Plaything”), leading them to be a common source of mistranslations between Belsedori and other languages.
Religion
The dominant religion of Belsegallia is Belsedori Ditheism, which rapidly gained prominence over Penthaïsm in the late A700s before completely replacing it in Belsegallia by A800. Belsedori Ditheism is an organized religion centered around the worship of the goddess Asahika and her consort Yoruhi, who are considered by the Belsedori to be their creators.
Culture
The culture of Belsegallia as a nation is almost universally the culture, customs, and social structure of the Belsedori who inhabit it. Belsegallian society at large is extremely matriarchal due to pervasive Belsedori influence; women are tasked with performing all governmental and military functions in Belsegallia and hold all positions of power, while men are relegated to domestic roles like housework and childcare. Skill in magical arts is uniquely valued as a desirable trait in both sexes, and virtually all Belsegallians know at least the basics of magic.
Cuisine
Due to environmental constraints imposed by the perennial snow cover and inclement weather, grain farming is highly impractical in most parts of Belsegallia; Belsegallian food is instead typically made with fruit, meat, dairy, and/or fish. Flour is still used in dishes like varieties of bread and dumplings, despite the lack of accessible grain, but is made with starchy fruits instead. Belsedori milk, as well as cheese, butter, cream and other dairy products that are made from it, are uniquely used extensively in everyday Belsegallian cooking; uses are varied and range from savory soups and sauces to desserts like milkshakes and ice cream.
Belsegallian food is often based on various combinations of the starchy, potato-like Yata fruit and dairy products, which are normally then made into soups, baked, or pan-fried in butter. Many common Belsegallian dishes can be treated as roughly analogous to foods made with potatoes, such as mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, potato fries, potato pancakes, potato bread, and potato soups, but have much higher dairy content in most cases and are slightly denser.
Dress
Clothing-related customs in Belsegallia are influenced strongly by the specific physical traits of Belsedori. Belsegallian clothes for women and men are notably often viewed as greatly resembling each other from the perspective of non-Belsegallians, but differ heavily in both the specific materials used and the method of styling. Customs regarding sex-segregated clothing types are especially strongly enforced and do not commonly match their counterparts outside of Belsegallia; the archetypal example of this occurrence is the fact that Belsegallians view pants as women’s-only clothing and expect men to wear shorts instead.
Gender Roles
Belsedori gender roles and social expectations regarding them are both highly prominent and heavily enforced in Belsegallia. The social structure of families and noble titles is extremely matriarchal: women in Belsegallia are viewed and treated as the only sex fit to hold even the most trivial positions in any kind of leadership, military service, or physically demanding labor. Noble titles in Belsegallia that involve any kind of decision-making power can only be held by women. Men in Belsegallia, by contrast, are expected to be immediately married off upon reaching adulthood and kept as stay-at-home parents. Women from Belsegallia, especially Belsedori, are notoriously sexist and extremely condescending towards men in all aspects; the Belsedori language has an unusually large variety of strong diminutives and patronizing terms with which to refer to men, and many common Belsegallian customs treat men as being fragile, submissive, and in need of protection from anything and everything. The social treatment received by men in Belsegallia is commonly compared to that given to a pet in other cultures, with women viewing them as passive toys to be taken care of while simultaneously denying them any manner of respect or independence.
Appearance
Attire
Clothing in Belsegallia is styled in accordance with the many sex-specific social norms of the Belsedori, and is divided into two extremely divergent types of dress.
Wedding customs in Belsegallia involve the wearing of special accessories by husbands and wives to indicate married status, though the form that these accessories take differs strongly by sex. Married female Belsedori typically wear a plain steel or silver wedding ring on their left hand, sometimes with engraved or etched details for decoration. Attire for married male Belsedori is significantly more visible and complicated in nature; the most widespread practice involves a white hair ribbon, a wedding veil, and a white collar or choker. Both parties in a married couple generally wear their respective wedding accessories most of the time, though married men are only strictly required to wear a wedding veil in particular when around women outside of their immediate family.
Employment
Leadership
All positions of economic, political, and military power in Belsegallia are held by women, and men are explicitly or implicitly barred from having almost any position of leadership, importance, or authority; the reigning Belsegallian nobility and its current monarch are all women, and each of their spouses is little more than a bouquet of decorative fluff with no ability to make decisions or policy. The only notable exception to this rule is in the realm of Belsedori religion, where men are allowed to serve in some limited roles relating to the worship of Yoruhi.
Mannerisms
Marriage & Families
Belsegallian families are organized in a hierarchical, matriarchal fashion in concordance with traditional practices of the socially dominant Belsedori; the wife is always the undisputed head of the household, followed by adult daughters and then trailed distantly by the husband, daughters under the age of majority, and then sons. Belsegallian marriages are unequal in the extreme; any given wife’s degree of control and authority is barely below the level of her having explicit, literal ownership of her husband, and many forms of customary Belsedori marital apparel for men are specially intended to represent submissiveness to a wife. Belsegallian husbands universally perform the role of domesticated stay-at-home parents whose responsibilities rarely extend beyond homemaking and childcare, and most men are never allowed to venture more than a few tens of kilometers away from their houses after being married off. Any unmarried daughters in a household are responsible for helping their mother provide a stable income by working, while sons are married off by their parents almost immediately after reaching adulthood.
Magical Arts
Magical practices of all varieties hold a prominent position in Belsegallian society, including spellcraft, alchemy, enchanting and magical forging, and other pursuits. Cultural restrictions on acceptable magic are often divided by gender; men typically learn alchemy, whereas women usually study enchanting. Manufactured magical objects like jewelry, clothing & armor, and weaponry that originate from Belsegallia are typically of unusually high quality due to a combination of exotic reagents, the higher skill level of the average Belsegallian artisan, and the natural magical predisposition of the Belsedori.