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Generally well-known facts about the Lands of the Chimaeron.
The Chimaeron is a medium-sized country in central Cerilia. It is named after the Chimaera, a powerful Awnsheghlien who rules this country.
The main feature is the Iron Peaks, a tall series of mountains which run through the middle of the country and marks the official boundary between the Anuirean lands and the Khinasi lands. The mountains are high and are notoriously difficult to traverse. Winter snows block them for months. Sudden heavy rains and storms make them treacherous at other times.
There is one road that crosses them, which was once part of the Iron Road that linked the Anuirean Capital with its eastern provinces. However, the road is narrow and exposed as it crosses the peaks, being a well-known ambush point for unprotected travellers.
Lying in a nexus between three great human cultures, the Chimaeron could in theory be a trade hub between them all, but there are a number of obstacles to that. The country has a poor reputation as a haven for outlaws, bandits and exiles from the Anuirean, Khinasi and Brechtur lands.
As well as the weather, the problems of corruption and banditry deter most traders, but some trade by sea helps the coastal towns survive, while mining and metal works allow the landed towns to scratch out a living.
The Chimaera is an Awnsheghlien, a Blood Abomination, corrupted by the dark blood of the former god Azrai. It is said she has the form of a dragon-bodied, lion-headed beast, wings, two dragon claws and two human arms. She is as large as an elephant.
It is also rumoured that she can take on human form too or employs some sort of female human agent to talk for her, perhaps even controlling their mind and directing the conversation. She is allegedly exceptionally strong and hard to kill, while being well-versed at dispensing death.
Although a beast in form, she is also a powerful sorceress and wields the magical sources that permeate the lands she rules. She has stated before to members of the Council that she is engaged in some sort of important magical researches, the nature of which she has never elaborated on.
The Chimaera does not discuss her researches with anyone, but does from time to time does demand things from the Council of Leaders to aid her work.
Records of interactions with the Chimaera suggest that her moods can swing very suddenly and she is possessed of a terrible temper. She is also said to be mad, switching from subjects randomly at times, as well as paranoid, suspecting everyone of everything.
She lives high up in an Eerie in the Iron Peaks, above the northern town of Rourke. Reaching her Eerie is difficult and dangerous, which is fortunate really. Anyone who approaches her Aerie without permission is inviting certain death and the bones of unwanted visitors are left lying around as a deterrent.
The Chimaera herself does not bother with the petty problems of the country. She expects the Council of Leaders to run the country and also do things when she asks and provide what she needs when she demands it. It has been known for her to eliminate Councillors who have let her down or attempt to betray her openly.
Sometimes she does not bother the Council for long periods of time and during those times there is always speculation that she has died. She has certainly lived for a long time, but that is not unusual for Blood Abominations.
There are nine members of the Council of Leaders, each of which is a mayor or other Leader in a town or city in the Chimaeron. Once they rise to top in their locality, they also become ex-officio members of the Council of Leaders.
Leaders are generally elected into office in their town or province. However, the Chimaeron is not an enlightened, democratic society. Most citizens dread elections as a period of corruption, intimidation, violence and murder. Some though welcome the possibility of being bribed to vote a certain way.
Each Leader is responsible for administering an election in their area. Most use that power to deter anyone else from standing against them. If there is only one candidate, there is no election. Indeed, it can be viewed as a sign of weakness that a sitting Leader faces a challenger.
The Council meets in the Tower of Watch in the capital, Lyssan. The Tower was built in Imperial times to watch for invading armies approaching the lands of Anuire and from its summit there is a wide view of the lands east of the Iron Peaks.
The Council sits at a round table. Matters are debated and voted on, with the majority deciding. In the event of a tie, a second vote is called. If the vote is still tied, the Chair of the Council has a second, casting vote.
The Council has a lot of power, having responsibility for the law, taxation, trade, foreign policy and military decisions. There is little it cannot order to happen, but in such a corrupt and lawless society, not everything the Council rules on happens.
A member of the Council is usually chosen to take responsibility for implementing a decision. This can be a poison chalice, especially if that decision is unpopular, dangerous or difficult. Failing to implement the will of the Council can be seen as failure and weaken a Leader’s position.
The Council generally does not “interfere in local affairs.” Leaders are free to do what they want in their own civic areas. This can cause problems when there is a need to do something in a particular locality but the Leader in that area does not want to do it.
It is possible for the Council to overrule a Leader who opposes their decisions, but it is rare for the Council to do so. That does not always work either when the Council expects a Leader to impliment a policy in his area that he does not agree with.
Some members of the Council are given offices of importance. Some of these are nominal or powerless positions, others are important. There is no term of office, offices are granted and lost by order of the Council.
The Chair of the Council controls the agenda and has a lot of power, but they can be forced to yield to the majority. The Chair is elected, and removed, by a majority vote and is hotly fought over in the background.
Responsible for taxation and the treasury. A popular position for grafters but if the Treasury is every short of what it is supposed to have on paper, the Treasurer is expected to find the funds from his own wealth or face execution.
Notionally in charge of usually non-existant army. Any member of the Council can be given a military command for a specific purpose though.
The head of the legal system, such that it is. The holder is expected to have some scholarly learning. Responsible for public prosecutions and drafting of new laws.
The Ambassador and handles foreign ambassadors and trying to maintain good relations with neighbours. Sometimes involves travelling abroad.
The Leaders of the nine most important towns and cities in the land form the Council of Leaders. Each town lies in one of the Chimaeron's seven provinces. Most of the provincial capital towns, but there are some exceptions where successful towns have achieved indepentent recognition.
This is a farming town lies in the province of the same name. It is on the eastern side of the Chimaeron. There is a big Khinasi population and many Brechts too.
Barniere is surrounded by tributary farming villages that together make it important market town. It is the biggest source of food in the country and makes some money from exporting that food as well, but the profits on food are low and it is not that prosperous.
A small border city in the north, capital of the province of the same name. it is the most populous of all the towns and cities in the Chimaeron. It has developed some trade foreign trade, especially Anuirean countries.
Careineans try to maintain a veneer of civilisation in order to protect their trade interests. It is cleaner and safer than most places in the Chimaeron. It is common knowledge though that the city is ruled by a Merchant Guilds that ruthlessly protects its trade monopolies and concessions.
Hamein is a town in the province of the same name on the banks of the eastern river Khurinbyrn, opposite to the Rohrmarch capital, Kiedel. It has an advantage over its larger Rohr neighbour, in that its small port does not silt up and it is able to control ferry access to Kiedel. The Ferryman's Guild is able to use this advantage to keep ferry prices high and make money from its neighbour.
If it were not for this, Hamein would not be a place of any significance. It gets very little actual trade; that goes to Kiedel. There is little agriculture or economy to speak of and its people are generally thought to be lazy and unreliable.
Luandar is a poor and dirty port town in the province of Lyssan. It sits on the mouth of the western river Qatil, bordering the country of Coeranys. It does not get much trade, though it is in a good position for those who want to land by sea and travel north, but few do.
Luandar has a lot of poor people and desperately lacks a significant economy, having declined from its heydays. Instead, the town is riddled with criminal gangs exploiting their power to squeeze what little money people have out of them.
It is quite usual for the mayor to be in the pockets of the local gangs. Or to be running them himself.
Lyssan is the capital city, by virtue of its central location and it is home to the Tower of Watch, an old fortress built in the prime of the now defunct Anuirean Empire.
It is located on a mountain plateau, which limits its size but provides a wide view of the surrounding countryside. It overlooks a farming communities in the valley below. Its economy mainly relies upon mining, smithing and the arms trade. The city is riddled with criminal gangs who control their territory, take a cut of profits and "protection money" from local residents.
Control of the capital is a distinct advantage and its mayor has more influence than any of the other members of the Council. As a result, its elections are more hotly contested and it tends to attract ambitious types.
Mhowe is the most prosperous in all the Chimaeron, perhaps because it is also furthest away from the Chimaera. It lies on the most southern tip of the country and attracts a reasonable amount of trade. It has the largest port in the Chimaeron. It is the capital of the province of the same name.
If you want something importing, have it sent via Mhowe, but expect to have to pay a local tariff for the privilege. Even the local smugglers have to pay protection money. It is also alleged that pirates operate from there but this has never been established for certain.
This small town is in the Iron Peaks directly below the Eerie of the Chimaera. It has suffered due to this, because when she is in a rage she usually takes it out on them.
As a result, Rourke has developed into a mining community and has retreated into the relative safety of an underground mining town. It has the biggest Dwarven community in the country, but they are still a minority. It is the capital town of the province of the same name.
Its people are said to be straight talking miners who do not like a lot of talk but prefer action. They are also harder working than most and thanks to that Rourke has survived and prospered as a town.
A small port south of Luandar on the Gulf of Coeranys, Salviene is the capital town of the province of the same name. It gets very little trade, but its local economy takes advantage of gambling and other vices.
It attracts residents of neighbouring Coeranys, where gambling and prostitution is outlawed and frowned upon. It is said that there is nothing you cannot do in Salviene – for the right price.
Another port on the southern tip of the country, Tulear lies in the province of Mhower, but does not attract the trade that its better placed rival does. Instead, it has built up a logging and ship-building industry.
Its people are more independently minded than most in the Chimaeron, but have recently become dominated by the Church of the Chosen of Nesirie, an insular religious group. Members of the Church hold all the important positions in the town, including the mayorality.
The town of Broken Hill lies in the province of Salviene, at the end of the Iron Peaks, named after an odd-shaped hill it is built on.
Recently, its Mayor has lobbied the Council to recgonise Broken Hill's independence and recognised as important enough for its Leader to join the Council. So far, his requests have been rejected.
West of the Chimaeron is the rainy and marshy lands of the Coeranys, the border being the Qatil river. It is mostly empty open plains, roamed by herds of horses owned and protected by the Landrunners of Coeranys. The Coeranians are a blunt, independent people who have little time for Chimaerians.
East lies Rohrmarch, a Brechtur land of forests and rolling plains, beset by civil war between two rival claims to the throne. A dispute currently affect relations with them because the port of Hamein controls ferry access to the Rohrmarch capital of Kiedel, extracting a heavy cut of the profits.
North is the Dwarven Kingdom of Baruk-Azhik, which has a vast city under the mountains, the entraces to which are hidden and guarded. There are some farm lands in the west, mostly owned by humans. The dwarves themselves dislike humans generally and Chimaerians even more so.