Cothein (COH-thane)

Cothein is ruled by the High King with the assistance of the King's Hand and the clan leaders of the Great Houses. Of the eleven Great Houses, one is the ruling House, four more sit on the hand, and the other six make up the remainder of the King's Council. In this way, if there should ever be a vote among the council, the clan leaders not on the Hand can outvote the Hand should they deem it necessary, though the final vote goes to the king, whose vote counts twice.   The Hand is made up of five members: The Scythe, The Stone, The Quill, The Hammer, and The Sword. The Scythe is the minister of domestic affairs, handling agriculture, infrastructure, and the like. The Stone is the religious advisor to the king and oversees the kingdom's faith and spiritual needs (a weakened position with the Empire having overtaken the kingdom.) The Quill is the King's primary diplomatic and socioeconomic advisor, and is usually a member of the king's House. The Hammer runs the legal system of Cothein, acting as High Judge, and, when necessary, Jury and Executioner. The Sword is the military leader of Cothein, and must earn their position through a series of challenges of combat, strength, intellect, and tactics.   Other notable positions on the Council include a Master of Spies and usually a Weaver, though these are not positions placed on the Hand.

The Great Houses are perhaps the highest driving factors of Cothein culture. Honor is everything to their people, and the honor of one's family, one's lord, and one's House, is paramount. For this reason, local Judicators are an important position, as they will be called upon to handle disputes between individuals or families. Also for this reason, dueling is a common form of conflict resolution. It is rare that this is allowed to happen using live steel, as the government does not want to allow its people to simply kill each other, but, for especially grievous acts, this is sometimes allowed. Usually it must be consented to, though there have been occasions where a Judicator authorized steel weapons even when one party did not express their consent.   Discipline and honor are taught from childhood. Young folk in Cothein are taught how to fight alongside mathematics and literature. The sharpening of their bodies is as important as their minds. This training, however, is tempered with strict disciplinary codes, and every child is taught this discipline from the time they first learn to speak. It is, therefore, rare that fights break out among children. They know that, should they have a dispute, they will have a time and a place to settle it honorably.   Spirituality is important to the people of Cothein. Their Gods and their ancestors are major parts of their upbringing, and it is common for Cothein people to be able to trace their ancestry for several generations. Most can name at least one or two major heroes they are descended from and can tell of their deeds. Regular religious practice is so common place that it seems odd to see people not attending religious ceremonies, though these people are not judged or outcast. It is assumed that those who do not attend rituals have their reasons.   Cothein culture has been slowly Imperialized since it became a province of the Certorum Empire. People are being encouraged to dress and act in ways more becoming of the conservative Empire, though this is pushed back against at every opportunity. The nobles of Cothein fight it, as they agreed in the Treaty of the Iron Wall that they would pay imperial taxes as long as their culture was left to them, and they could largely govern themselves. Still, it is impossible for Imperial beliefs and traditions to not have colored their population somewhat, especially in major cities like Tova.

Cothein has vast stores of wood, metal, and stone that they used to make their land rich. Rather than focus on trade, they built up their own people while they created diplomatic relations with others. They did eventually begin trading, however, and Castreden spirits and pipeweed became popular imports, among other things, for their raw resources. A jealously guarded secret, however, is the Willstone, a strange mineral which the people of Cothein do not want to go anywhere outside of their borders.   Cothein had a standing army before becoming an Imperial province, forced to disband following occupation. Now they only maintain their local militias, many of their veterans having been taken by the Empire for their militaries. Fortresses are common across their lands, as castles were not built for pleasure. The major cities of Cothein are well-fortified to withstand siege and other assaults.

There is a formal military of Cothein, made up entirely of volunteers who serve under the banners of their Great Houses. It is expected that noble born men will serve in the military for a time, though many continue to serve as officers until they are of an age to retire. Low-born members of the formal military receive at least a year's training in military tactics and weapons training, while noble-born go through several years through a formal military academy.   Members of the citizenry are sometimes recruited as militia when necessary, though this is rare. With their warrior culture, the military usually has enough troops to deal with whatever may come their way, but when need arises they levy additional troops. During these times, the people are grateful for what combat training they do have. Only men are drafted in this way, a topic of much conversation and hot debate in social circles.   The formal military is purposefully equipped to be form-fitting for the situation at hand. Standard infantry troops are equipped with javelins, shields, axes, and medium armor of thick gambesons supplemented with lamellar pieces. There are also more elite infantry forces in the form of the heavy infantry, wearing full suits of lamellar and carrying polearms and short axes, and shock troopers wearing lighter armor and carrying two-handed swords and axes. Cothein cavalry looks like cavalry from many other places in the world, with the exception that even their heavy cavalry carry bows, which they will use to harass enemies from a distance before they switch to their lances for a cavalry charge. They also ride on Aragan elk, a large cervine creature with a great crown of antlers. These elk cavalry are uniquely equipped to handle anti-cavalry infantry, due to their antlers.   The Cothein military is famed, however, for their archers. Swordplay and archery are the two most commonly taught skills in Cothein, and the archer units are particularly efficient. Using powerful longbows, even Imperial armor cannot withstand a volley from them. When forced into uncomfortable positions, the archers will switch to their swords or axes, depending on the individual soldier. The archers are also well-trained in stealth, and use this to set up ambushes whenever possible. They will use the high ground to give themselves a better place from which to assail their enemies.   A particularly famed and powerful unit of archers are the Aragan Rangers, woodsmen and scouts that specialize in guerilla tactics and asymmetrical warfare. The rangers are by invitation only; you have to know someone to be accepted into their ranks. They wear thick gambesons with hardened ring-mail and carry powerful composite bows, hatchets, and falchions, with which they can both do battle and clear brush and undergrowth, though these melee weapons are sometimes substituted for a personal favorite.   When the militia forces are levied, the militias equip themselves with whatever they can get their hands on. It is not uncommon at all for Wodurum men to keep at least one weapon in the house, though the lord who levied them is also supposed to maintain an armory with armor and weapons to dish out for a militia. Militia forces drill occasionally, taking a month out of each year to train with weapons and in tactics so that they can fight at a moments' notice. Militia are also well-trained to wage guerilla warfare in the event of an invasion.