Difference between revisions of "Barius"

Revision as of 12:22, 27 April 2007

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Expert	Shinigori
Flag
Capital	City of Storms
Largest city	City of Storms
Government Grand General	dictatorship Vaniyakna
Settlement	1174-1178 EP
Official Language(s)	Barian
Official Religion	aethiest (see below)
Currency	kurlen
as far as Barians are concerned, "the gods suck and they want nothing to do with them"

Summary

The country of Barius is located on an island about 35 miles off the east coast of Doma. The citizens of Barius are jealous of those who live on the mainland, and it shows--as long as there are no foreigners around. However, they are self-sufficient, and try not to trade much with the other countries. Barius has been training men and women to be assassins since the beginning of the country, around 982; although they are a small country, they train some of the most reliable killers in the world.

The citizens of Barius desire to move the country onto the mainland, to avoid the massive storms and waves they get on their island. To accomplish this goal more efficiently, the military has temporarily taken control of the government. The king, Lezone, is a figurehead for the people to turn to, but he in turn looks to his generals to change anything. Once a new kingdom is established, the plan is that King Lezone will take back control of the government. His ambition is to control the entire mainland.

Important Places

• Squall Castle: Center of the Barian government and residence of the royal family and the Grand General, should he or she choose to take up residence there as well. Currently the hub of Vaniyakna's power. (castle)
• The City of Storms: Capital city of Barius, tightly packed city of eternal rain. The Devil's River runs through the middle of it, right under Squall Castle, which sits dead center. (capital)
• Blizzardia: Barius' only major port and shipyard. Protected by icebergs that have a certain path cut into them so Barians can leave easily, but invaders cannot enter with as much ease. City of Eternal Snow. (city)
• Devil's Sanctuary: Capital of the Barian 'demons' during the Demon War, legend claims it to be the resting place of a terrible power. (ruins)

History

The founding of the nation of Barius

(1174-1178)

In the year 1174, an exploration vessel from a now unknown country runs into trouble on the western border of current-day Barius. The survivors make their way onto land and split up, due to disagreements over who should lead. Approximately two years later, natural resources were found in abundance within the plains and forests of Barius.

As the first cities where being built, survivors of the wreck were taken by surprise by a race of tall humanoids, thought to be demons. Driven by their attackers, the survivors head into the many weather anomalies found on Barius for protection. The cause of the anomalies is yet unknown.

Two more years pass, and the major Barian cities spring from the anomalies--the City of Storms, Blizzardia, Windon, and Hailia. The cities prosper from the protection of the anomalies, which the demons dare not enter. They are also protected by one another, as the Alliance of States is formed to deal with the demonic threat.

The Demon War

(1181 - 1241)

Three years after the Alliance of States is formed, the demons seemed to gather their forces to expel the new humans from their home. The demons invade the city of Feld, capital of the alliance at the time. The city, unprotected by any anolmalies, falls quickly, and the leader of the alliance, Rantiir, is sacrificially slain to appease the demons' masters.

After Rantiir's death, only one man dares take the reigns of the alliance -- a man known only as Rankland. The alliance is renamed "Bar-ee-uss", named after the demons' death-cry. Every populated city joins the Barian alliance, and together, the cities fight to destroy the demons and gain freedom from their 'imprisonment' in the anomalies.

Thirty years later, at the legendary Battle of Epech Cliff, Rankland is caught off-guard, and is thrown from the cliff, and is never seen or heard from again. Soon after, Rankland's right hand man, Amanziani Herishi, is named his successor.

The war continues to rage for another ten years, until the Battle of Devil's Sanctuary where Amanziani's forces eradicate the Barian demons. The cities vote to make Amanziani the sole leader of the country, and name him king. To commemorate this, Amanziani had construction start on a castle in his home town, Squall Castle in the City of Storms. Thirty-two Barian men die in the construction. Barian tradition of taking one's earliest known forefathers name as your last name begins. The species of Barian demons disappears, and is thought to be extinct.

Family History of Amanziani

(1271-1290)

Thirty years went by since the end of the Demon War. Amanziani turns 60, and his wife, Keril, gives birth to a son, Frederick.

Twenty years after Frederick's birth, Frederick takes the position as Grand General of the Barian Army, giving up his position of Prince and successor of the thrown to a politician, Jerome Lezone. Soon after, Amanziani dies of a fatal illness.

Thirty years go by with Lezone as king. All in Barius is well, until a man appears. Vladimir Vaniyakna approaches Lezone, and convinces him to force Frederick into retirement, and appoint himself as Grand General. Exactly three days later, Frederick's wife gives birth to a son, Griff. Frederick stays on as a consultant to the king, while Griff has a normal childhood. However, three years later, another child is born, Cervant--Griff's younger sister. Sarah Amanziani dies giving birth.

Miscellany

Notes from Amanziani Herishi's journal: The Barian "Demon"

"I've discovered that the "demons" we fight aren't demons at all! They seem to be some sort of snake-men, with small eyes, and square faces, and large hooks protruding from their forearms.

"I've discovered four types of "demon"- Peasant, Knight, Lord, and Emperor. There are hundreds of "peasant"s, as I've named them. They do manual labor, and seem to be slaves. "Knights" are the classification of basic fighters- They have the thick hides and blades described above. "Lords" seem to lead the Knights into battle. And the Emperors only appeared at the later part of the war, when we came close to Demon's Sanctuary.

"Emperors stand almost twice as tall as any of our men, and it took everything we had to defeat the one we encountered. As soon as he fell, the others ran into the forests, where we hunted them down and irradicated them...I must ask...did we do the right thing in killing the native species of this land? Or did we call an even greater disaster upon ourselves...?"

"From the notes of Amanziani- The Anomalies

"'I've been studying these anomalies for quite some time now...It seems that our fair Barius has 5 of them: one where it is extremely cold and never stops snowing; one where it is very humid and never stops raining; one where the wind never lets up, and hail falls constantly; one that's very arid, and hard to live in; and one more to the south, where the earth always shakes, as if angered by something...I've not yet determined the cause of these anomalies, but I think it has got something to do with the glowing stones I've found in the middle of the anomalies..."

--ShinigoriV2

Money Matters

Barius has the kurlen, which comes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1000. Barian kurlen are metal coins differentiated by design, color, and size.

• 1 - (flake) small white coin with a snowflake design on the front, and the seal of Blizzardia on the back
• 5 - (chunk) small light blue coin with the design of a chunk of ice on the front, and the seal of Halion on the back
• 10 - (gust) medium mint-green coin with the design of wind blowing through a tree on the front, and the seal of Winda on the back
• 20 - (drought) medium orange coin with the design of the landscape of the Zone Desert on the front, and a design of the Zone Volcano on the back
• 50 - (drop) medium dark blue coin with a raindrop on the front, and the seal of the City of Storms on the back
• 100 - (berg) large indigo coin with an iceburg on the front, and the seal of Blizzardia on the back
• 500 - (bolt) large yellow coin with a lightning bolt on the front, and the seal of the City of Storms on the back
• 1000 - (squall) large gold coin with the seal of Squall Castle on the front, and the seal of Barius on the back

See Also

• Businesses in Barius
• Cities of Barius
• Geography of Barius