Fendahl

Fenrii of Comraich, the Adams Family, Nightmare before Christmas, and every cheerfully dark lore to be imagined.

This city-state is not represented on sim, nor does it have an RPCSS faction. Players may have characters who's home is from this city-state, but they will need to work for one of the other factions or play as a founding in RPCSS. Read More

Fendahl is on the far eastern edge of Essealas, below Khonzhou and above Tenysia. The city is many miles inland from the sea on the edge of the Mirkwood. The building style is an erotic blend of gothic and Asian -- with tall dark towers gleefully graced with gargoyles, upturned eaves, paper lanterns, and a perpetually engulfing mist.

Fendahl produces food aplenty -- if you don't mind barley, dahl, and catfish. Which most people, even the peasantry, do mind. Where it not for its copper and silver mines, Fendahl would be one of the poorest of the city-states. Luckily, a steady influx of common and luxury items in trade for silver keeps the aristocracy in the style, and the tradition of noblesse oblige flows wealthy securely down the social hierarchy.

Personality

The Fenrii are a people cursed. They truly believe that they may be struck by a curse at any point in their life and become a danger to themselves or their family. Consequently, they are particularly superstitious and practice all manner of folk medicine to ward off evil spirits. In truth, while few Fenrii actually suffers from obscure ailments, they seem to have an inordinate number of rare conditions popping up in their citizenship. Hypertrichosis, Albinism, Clinical lycanthropy, Porphyria, and Leprosy show up at least every other generation in a person's extended family -- everyone has at least one unfortunate Uncle Boris or Aunt Shishi.

The Fenrii organize themselves along Ducal family lines much in the way of the Halsteins though they do not use the formalized "von" at the end of their name unless they are actual members of the Aristocracy. This leads scholars to believe that there was an infusion of early Halstein exiles, alongside the Asian influence of Khonzhou. Unfortunately, the Fenrii are not pure enough to find common ground with either city-state and are more likely to ally with either Telrae’dor or Tenysia. Curiously enough, the Rus people find the Fenrii to be "pleasant and sober companions". Or perhaps they simply appreciate a captive audience for their own dour predictions.

Fendahl has a prince and/or princess, never a king or queen, as their ancient lore says that the true king and queen will rise from the dead to rule. However, the prince and princess are always treated like royalty and their word governs the politics of the people.

Appearance

The Fenrii are traditionally pale skinned with thick black hair, even if they must dye it for it to be black. They are typically fine-featured with caucasian noses, slanted eyes and pointed chins. Yet, like Tenysia, Fendahl is home to many immigrants who were exiled from their own cities, but with enough goods or coin to earn a position within the city limits. Consequently, it's not uncommon to see all manner of people in the traditional black favored by the aristocracy.

When one asks a servant to bring one their last season's ball gown, the servant never asks what color it is ... Black, grey, white, and ash shades of lavender and rose are the traditional colors of Fendahl, for one is most certainly always in mourning, preparing to go into mourning, or just practicing what it will be like. Within this curiously restricted color wheel, the Fenrii have found a way to make every outfit interesting and eye-catching -- and all manner of hats, hairstyles, trinkets, tassels, walking sticks, and cloaks are embraced and displayed.

Traditions

The Fenrii worship a blindfolded triple-faced goddess who is called upon for all aspects of witchcraft, magic, the Moon, doorways, and creatures of the night such as hell-hounds and ghosts. Celeste is often depicted carrying a torch and three faces, representing her role as the guardian of crossroads. Celeste is both beloved and feared. Her worship is reserved for weekly devotions and is primarily liturgical and ritualistic.

Day to day practices, on the other hand, revolve around one's ancestors as well as the seven lucky gods. These gods have no names, but actively infuse daily life, as the Fenrii hope to ward off bad luck. Their aspects cover business, food abundance, demon hunting, war, the arts, the elderly, and popularity. Small figurines of the seven gods both together and separately can be found all over Fendahl; street shrines, home shrines, offering tables in businesses, etc.

Like the Sythians the Fenrii bury their people in above-ground crypts, but they do not embalm their dead, instead, they are laid to rest with little additional preparation other than bathing and nice clothes. "Accidental" premature burials are not uncommon, and coffin-holes are widely used - just in case. At every full moon, the family gathers and hosts a feast in the cemeteries with their beloved dead. If financially possible, food is left out for the recently deceased often, consequently, there isn't a starving cat, dog or child to be found in Fendahl. The homeless and deranged are considered sacred -- the Fenrii treat them with compassion and largesse.

Expanded Lore

Further reading and links for the culture obsessed.

History

Timeline

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Small Council NPCs

Role	Description
Princess Ylenia Keita Ruler	Princess Ylenia Keita is very much her late father’s daughter. Bouts of melancholy, even far beyond normal Fenrii solemnity, and periods of hermit-like solitude have always plagued the royal family. The respect and reverence of her people does not come in spite of these oddities, but rather because of them. A glistening robe of reverence that passed directly from her father’s shoulders onto her own. She and her husband, Umebayashi rule the kingdom with the common knowledge that, though his charisma and oratorical skill place him as the face of their rule… Ylenia moves the city state quietly in the background.
Raluca Moliva Diplomat	Stuttering and self effacing, Raluca Moliva will tell you endlessly how unsuited she is for her position. While it is true that she’s established few especially strong bonds between other city-states, she has also avoided creating any strong enemies. A traveler in her youth, the now elderly woman obtained a great deal of first hand knowledge of Arcovia’s many varied cultures in her globetrotting. She has hammered out a relatively steady middle ground for her homeland. A platform with which to drift by unnoticed. A time will come, as it always does with a growing nation, for Fendahl to truly make itself known. When that time arrives, Raluca knows exactly which kid gloves she needs to dawn when handling Fendahl’s potential foes.
Yakota Kishibei Warlord	The Fenrii are sure of one thing, and only one thing when it comes to war. They will lose. Even if a battle is won, it is just a prelude to some catastrophic failure. No moves are taken without extreme measures of caution. Without a strong buffer to cushion the eventual blow. Yakota Kishibei takes those heavily ingrained warnings to heart. A scholar and strategist who has never truly seen battle outside of a history book or wargame, Yakota plans the moves of Fendahl’s military with great care and caution. They will lose, but the learned battlelord does his best to see that they succeed as much as possible before that eventual collapse.
Iwata Groza Coinmaster	Care for the disenfranchised. A noble calling, and one that Iwata Groza can claim with pride. The nobleman uses the bulk of his copper mine’s income to facilitate one of Fendahl’s most lauded care facilities for the destitute and mad. He assumed the role of coinmaster with one simple goal. Redistributing as much as possible back into Fendahl’s population. Even though this aim occasionally places a heavy burden upon his other small council members, they are no strangers to an unfairly heavy load and bear it with an appropriate amount of complaint. An adept negotiator and skillfully savvy with balancing funds, he may run his position like a charity… but the city-state seems to have suffered little for it.
Murai Himeka Spy Master	Murai Himeka would make a terrible spy if she relegated her skills to the bounds of the city-state. Habits picked up while attempting to blend in abroad make her positively garish when surrounded by her properly sober kinsmen. The slip of a woman smiles far too much, though elsewhere she would still be considered depressingly dour. Rumors bubble that she’s also developed a fondness for garments in positively ostentatious shades like navy and emerald. Ever unaffected by the whispers of her colleagues, Murai is a deft tool in the hands of the council. Even if the hilt is a bit gaudy, a sharp knife still cuts.

Gallery

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• Needs some more men not in robes