Lyrazante

Situated between Erganth and Nallurok, to the north-east of Dominus, lies the Elven kingdom of Lyrazante.

Bal-Morath © 2015-2024 PAB

Geography

Lyrazante is a vaguely triangular shaped nation, formed of a single main island with a couple of very small islands along its southern coast.

The climate is very slightly warmer and drier than that of Erganth, thanks mainly to a warm westerly wind that tracks across the kingdom for most of the year.

It is a fertile nation but little of the region is devoted to growing crops or raising livestock. Instead the Elves prefer to keep the country predominantly forested.

Demographics

Lyrazante is primarily an Elven kingdom, with over 75% of the population being Elves in a roughly 60/40 split between High Elves and Wood Elves. Humans (Merebian, Erganthan or Chundrite) are the next most populace race at about 12% of the population. Close behind are Gnomes with roughly 10%. Dwarves, Tieflings and Ymirkin are all very rare and combined account for the remaining 3%.

Economy

Lyrazante’s main exports are timber (soft and hard woods), mithral, silver and knowledge. Its main imports are grain, livestock, stone (granite and marble), iron, steel and bronze. Lyrazante prides itself on it's education centres and is a major contributor to the colleges of Academia in literature, art and magical texts. It's own colleges, based around the the capitol Qualinost only admits Elven and Gnomish students although private tutors can sometimes be found should a curious Human or Tiefling need assistance.

Lyrazante's mithral mines are unique in the Empire and the difficulty of mining it, requiring techniques that the Elves keep a closely guarded secret, means that even small amounts are worth a considerable amount - sometimes more than gold.

Lyrazante uses the standard Imperial currency with the addition of the Lyrazante 'bar', a mithral based rectagular coin (about 1cm x 3cm in size) that is worth five unari. The bar is minted in a secret location in Lyrazante. Imperial denari (silver) coins are also minted in the kingdom.

Notable Places

The main city in Lyrazante is Qualinost, located deep in the main forest which is named 'Nesgalasia', an Elven name which broadly translates as either 'refuge' or 'prison' depending on which vowel is emphasised. Qualinost is a city of spires and elaborate architecture. The buildings all seem to link to one another so as to form a continuous spiral of buildings converging on a central tower. The population of Qualinost is estimated at about 200,000 but no accurate census data exists to confirm this.

The main Human settlement is called 'Homestead' which is a fairly typical Imperial town holding about 15,000 people (mostly human).

Notable People

[To be added]

Politics

Lyrazante, as an Elven kingdom is a firm ally of the Empire but typically follows its own path. Where decisions are needed that affect the Empire their Senators tend to vote along with the Emperor but where they only (or predominantly) affect Lyrazante they are more independently minded. Lyrazante has good relations with Erganth, which also has a significant Elven population, and Thorast but otherwise doesn't get involved with the politics of the other nations.

Lyrazante is home to the 26th, 27th, 37th and 44th Legions, totalling around 20,000 men spread around over just eight forts. This is the smallest deployment of Imperial forces of any nation except Academia. As part of the acceptance of Lyrazante into the Empire the Elves agreed to provide a matching Elven force of four legions worth of men at all times. The majority of Imperial forces are stationed along the east coast of Lyrazante, acting as a deterrent to Nallurok.

As the 3rd nation to join the Merebian Empire (after Erganth), Lyrazante has an odd standing within the Empire. Whilst definitely more trusted than Bal-Morath, the Empire does not see it as vital as, say Thorast. The Chancery often considers whether Lyrazante is a actually a potential threat but as Lyrazante has not made any aggressive overtures to the Empire ever it's independence is 'tolerated'.

Flora and Fauna

The nation of Lyrazante is where the borders between the Prime Material Plane and the Fae-realms are weakest. Creatures regularly travel across the Green Veil, in both directions and so Lyrazante is home to many denizens of the Feywild, such as Pixies, Sprites, Brownies, Dryads and Treants. The Elves guard these border vigorously, mainly to guard against the Eladrin but still many fae creatures slip past.