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The Kingdom of Porphia
- Part of the Twelve Kingdoms
Realm: Sovereign
Population: 2,500,000
Military: 22,000 (Moderate)
Economy: Mostly agricultural, a few mercantile towns, and one major urban economic power (Nemarie)
Language: Common
—The city of Nemarie
—Political map of Porphia (Or scroll down)
—Geographic map of Porphia
—Principal personages in Porphia and Djorain
Culture and Economy
A Calant nation, Porphia is similar in culture to the area around the Coeur d'Ennui, though less refined and peaceful. Most of the country's population lives in rural villages and farms. There are only a few urban centers, mostly located along the River Laria that runs through the heart of the kingdom.
Porphia is organized on a feudal system. Most peasants are formally bound to their land, though this is not a real obstacle for those wishing to leave. Settlements are organized around the castles, keeps, and fortified homes of the kingdom's nobility and knighthood. In times of warfare, which are fairly frequent, the peasants retreat behind the castle walls for refuge. In addition to menaces from outside the kingdom, Porphians have also fought against each other on a fairly regular basis. Even the country's High Lords have been known to have bloody feuds, most notably Earl Diddora and Earl Forfalin.
History and Politics
One of the so-called "Southern Calant" kingdoms, Porphia had been more fortunate than its neighbors until very recently. The kingdom had had its fair share of external wars and internal strife, of course, but relatively enlightened rule by the House of Lar had kept Porphia from the kind of disintegration and fragmentation experienced by other countries in the former Otessan Empire. The House of Lar had led the rebellion against V'Tavia two centuries ago that secured Porphia's independance. Over the next century it expanded direct control over fractious neighbors, culminating in its subjugation of the independent Republic of Nemarie eighty years ago.
Porphia has a feudal structure, divided roughly into two halves: the east, which owes allegiance directly to the king, and the west, ruled by the Duke of Nemarie (a member of the House of Lar). The personal forces of the king and Duke are reinforced by levies from the nine additional major lords of the land, who in turn control the allegiance of a host of lesser lords and knights. In practice, the lords of the land occasionally skirmish against one another, though the kingdom's political structure has been able to prevent any major conflicts.
The current King of Porphia is Larolan III, a man of more than seventy. His nephew, Corien du Lar, is the Duke of Nemarie and heir to the throne. Corien's son, Prince Thurien of Nemarie, is engaged to the only daughter of the Baron of Wenara, a small territory in Eastern South Hold; it is expected that upon the Baron's death Wenara will be annexed to Porphia.
All these concerns are secondary for Porphia at the present moment, however. Last year the kingdom was invaded without warning by its smaller neighbor to the north, the Principality of Djorain. The two states had long disputed their borders, with Djorain claiming a considerable section of Porphia, but the invasion still caught the Porphians by surprise. King Larolan was forced to engage the Djoraini army, under General Vilnius, on the ground below his capital city of Laros with only half his forces; the rest were marching from the distant west with Duke Corien. The balance between the two closely-balanced armies was shattered by Vilnius' decisive use of battlemagic; the Porphian army was routed with hundreds either killed or captured. Larolan himself barely escaped, turning up unexpectedly in exile in the ducal court in the Coeur d'Ennui.
As Vilnius now marches toward Nemarie, Corien is beating a fighting retreat. His army has splintered, with many nobles taking their forces away to defend their own keeps. Some of the nobles of eastern Porphia have been completely defeated and their lands occupied, while those that remain are largely besieged in their castles. It's unclear at present whether Vilnius's campaign will succeed or whether he has overextended himself in hostile territory, though his strategy of divide-and-conquer has been very successful so far.
The High Lords of Porphia (with current status):
(1-7 owe allegiance directly to the King; 8-11 owe allegiance to the Duke of Nemarie)
1. King Larolan of Porphia (in exile)
2. Count Osaress (in prison)
3. Count Choramin (in prison)
4. Count Penolce (dead; his son is in exile)
5. Earl Diddora (besieged)
6. Earl Forfalin (unconquered)
7. Count Trucuit (besieged)
8. Duke Corien du Lar of Nemarie (the King's nephew) (unconquered, retreating)
9. Earl Wenwrought (unconquered, but most of his forces are besieged)
10. Count Umanion (unconquered)
11. Earl Apino (unconquered, but distracted with a border war against South Hold nobles)
Political Map of Porphia (the shaded area represents Porphian land traditionally claimed by Djorain)
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