Category:Nemedian



NEMEDIAN "The last glints of the sun shone on the golden banner of Nemedia with the scarlet dragon, unfurled in the breeze above the pavilion of King Tarascus on an eminence near the eastern cliffs."– The Hour of the Dragon Nemedia is a fertile land. Low mountains and hills form a border with Aquilonia with only a few passes. Great grasslands lie to the immediate east of those mountains, where few farms and villages exist for fear of the Aquilonians, who raid those lands.

Nemedia is the second great kingdom of the Hyborians, technologically and economically superior to the other Hyborian nations save Aquilonia. It is an ancient kingdom, proud of its cultured sophistication and civilized traditions. Although settled by the Hyborians, three thousand years ago this was the land of Acheron and traces of Acheronian blood flow through many of the veins of Nemedian Hyborians. The hills of Nemedia still hold groups of people who boast of their Acheronian descent.

Description
Their culture is similar to Aquilonia, although the Nemedians emphasize feudal bonds more and personal freedoms less. Nemedia is strict in its feudal hierarchies and each citizen knows his place on that complex schedule of servants and masters, duties and privileges.

Nemedians are usually of medium height with blond or black hair, they have white to olive skin tone.

All citizens must pledge allegiance to the king and are subject equally to the country's code of laws. These laws are administered by Inquisitorial Councils and Courts of Justice, which, to their credit, exonerate the innocent as often as they convict the guilty. The courts are harsh, though they try to make the punishments fit the crimes and make restitutions as fair as possible. Also, the courts will attempt to exonerate the innocent if the guilty can be found. Unfortunately, if the guilty cannot be found, sometimes the innocent must suffer so that at least the illusion of justice is served.

Still, Nemedia is well regarded for scholastic and intellectual freedom for the greatest historians, the most famous philosophers and the pinnacle of powerful orators in the West are Nemedians.

Clothing
Nemedian commoners wear coarse, knee-length shirts corded about the waist with rope. Merchants wear togas and robes. Servants wear woolen clothing: long belted tunics for the men, embroidered blouses and woolen skirts for the girls. The nobility typically wear cavalry boots, fur or leather kilts and pleated silk shirts. The priests wear silken robes. Nemedians take pride in their culture and never dress outside of their station.

Behavior and Notable Oddities
Scholarship - Nemedia is a land of scholarship and education, offering a means of social movement. Although noble sponsorship is necessary to gain any kind of Imperial grant, noble blood in and of itself is not a requirement. The study of history is a special favorite among the Nemedian scholars, as the famous Nemedian Chronicles testify. Other fields of inquiry include theology, science, cartography and arcanology. Of course, sometimes these scholars find themselves moving down sorcerous paths

The study of history is a special favorite among the Nemedian scholars.

Honor - is a real concept for the Nemedians, one that impacts their reputations, moral identities and self-perception. This honor extends to family and friends. Impugned honor results in duels or other forms of redress. The aristocracy consider their honor to hold them above the rabble; honor to them is as real as a castle but vastly more important, for a damaged castle can be more easily repaired than damaged honor. Indeed, acts that otherwise would be considered criminal can be excused if they are committed as a matter of honor. Honor is especially important on the borders of Nemedia where law enforcement is minimal and the people enforce their own laws.

Allegiance - Nemedia is built upon the concept of allegiance toward others. The entire feudal system depends upon allegiance, the reciprocal ties between individuals and between families. An honorable character will declare at least one allegiance. Characters with unknown or no allegiances are not trusted in Nemedia.

Virtues - such as efficiency, austerity and discipline are held in high regard for the Nemedians. This shows among other things in their civilized court system that is complex in its attempts to be just. Few Nemedians would dare to resist a member of the police. The Nemedians are civilized enough to submit to the police and the courts and their cruelties are accepted as necessary.

Nemedians hold law enforcement and law-abidingness in high regard

Manners - As a civilized nation, Nemedian citizens guild their words in honeyed phrases, veiling their meanings to preserve a sense of respectability and etiquette. Those who do not conform to conservative Nemedians’ sense of good manners are disliked and may be treated with varying levels of hostility. People who ask questions too directly are not likely to find the answers they seek. The challenge in Nemedia is to properly present oneself, to show that cooperation is returned in kind yet without openly saying so.

Religion

 * Skeptics
 * Mitra
 * Ibis
 * Ishtar
 * Set

Despite the rigid control the feudal system has in Nemedia, with its strict laws and intense law enforcement, Nemedia is far more tolerant of alternative religions than Aquilonia. Likely this is because of Nemedia’s scholastic nature and the crown’s endorsement of philosophical thought. Thus, in Nemedia, a wide range of religious beliefs can be found across the length and breadth of the nation.

Nemedia is a Hyborian nation that honors that most universal of Hyborian gods, Mitra. The priests of Mitra are instructed in many things, for the teachings and works of Mitra have brought about the power and splendor of the Hyborian kingdoms.

Skeptics - The Skeptics are another order of religious thought in Nemedia. They claim that there are no gods but those that man names and chooses to believe in.

Other Gods - Shemite gods are also worshipped here. The sexual aspect of Ishtar’s faith makes it an attractive religion for this otherwise reserved population. Even votaries of Set can be found in darksome temples within the borders of tolerant Nemedia. Ibis is a small cult; it has all but died out. It is well thought-of in Nemedia as foes against evil and Set, although the Mitran religion remains distrustful of them.

Government
Ruler: King Tarascus

The Kingdom of Nemedia is ruled by King Tarascus and maintains a strong feudal government, much like that found in Aquilonia. The king can not prevent local powers from rising except by sending valuable troops to quell them. The king also does not have enough soldiers to enforce his will everywhere.

Thus the nations are left with fragmented governments comprised by local counts and barons who perform civil and military functions in the name of the king for an equally fragmented kingdom subdivided into numerous fiefs and sub-fiefs. The area of each Hyborian kingdom is broken up into smaller territories, or provinces. These in turn are broken up into even smaller pieces. Often the boundaries are not well defined nor do the various lands ruled by a count or baron need to be contiguous.

Although Nemedia does not have castes in the sense that Vendhya does, the citizens do have a sense of class and status. Nemedia is strict in its feudal hierarchies and each citizen knows his place on that complex schedule of servants and masters, duties and privileges. Citizens are constantly, although largely subconsciously, aware of rank and station. Artisans, for example, are beneath the wealthy merchants and traders. Nobles, who are descended from noble blood-lines, are on the highest tiers of society. High Ranking military positions are also reserved for the nobility and only nobles may become knights.

Economy
The manor is the economic unit of life in Nemedia. A manor consists of a manor house and one or more associated villages and acres of land numbering in the thousands. Fully a third of the land is devoted to supporting the noble fief-holder and his retinue. The serfs and peasants who work the land are usually required to spend half their time working the portions set aside for the nobility but have the rest of the time to work their own lands or to work on special projects, such as building bridges or roads, as required by the local lord.

Common Professions:
 * Archaeologist
 * Historian
 * Knight
 * Merchant
 * Peasant
 * Philosopher
 * Priest/Priestess
 * Scholar
 * Soldier

Sex Roles and Marriage
Nemedian women tend to have an easier time compared to those Aquilonia. However, their society follow the same patriarchal pattern as in most Hyborian kingdoms. Women are under the control of their fathers until they marry. Although peasants have more free choice in marriage because their dowries are either small or non-existent, aristocratic women are subjected to arranged marriages. Women can hold higher positions in society through merit, studying or marriage is generally the means of social movement for Nemedian women.

A way to change station in Nemedia is, of course, through marriage, although it is rare for people of different classes to really get to know each other. Also, most noble marriages are arranged. Typically a comely Nemedian girl has more hope of a higher marriage than a man. Still, marriage brokers find themselves busy.

Slavery
Beneath the commoners and the serfs, who are still free, are the slaves. Laws prohibit the harsh treatment of slaves; after all, Nemedia is not Zingara, where slaves in the field are beaten with whips. Nemedia recognizes that a well treated slave is less likely to rise up in revolt. Rebellions by slaves are not uncommon during the Hyborian Age but few uprisings are recorded in Nemedia, where many slaves would refuse freedom if it were offered to them. Who would feed and shelter them if they were freed? Nay, Nemedia is a civilized land and the people of that land know their place in the feudal hierarchy. There is a measure of safety in the stability of Nemedia’s social structures.

Influences
Architectural influences: Byzantine Empire, ancient Greece.

More Information
RPGS:
 * Return to the Road of Kings (Nemedia, p 151-155)
 * Faith and Fervour (Nemedia’s Ibis, p 58-60)