Life in the Major Nations

Life in the Major Nations is full of people working and living their lives like one might expect. Most nations have Nobility and wealthy Merchant classes who live in a very different world from the common person. The Nobility and Merchant classes often have conflicts with each other as their interests intersect. On the bottom of this are the true poor: Orphans, outcasts, and the unwanted. As is usually the case these people often turn to crime, either in the cities or out in the countryside. To confront this, rather than fix the issues most Nations turn to creating city guards… Or use Soldiers as police.

Life in the Wild Places

Outside the major nations life is more harsh and chaotic. Most villages are run by a headman or village elder and there is very little in the way of local ‘law’. The major nations can usually send troops through these areas with little care, except to anger the people in the villages. However, while the people in the villages may be hearty individuals they are not soldiers and do not have the numbers to stand up to much more than a squad of soldiers. Many large nations leave this places alone as a buffer between them and other large nations to avoid conflicts… Or to leave a place to air grievances without trampling on their own lands.

Mercenaries and Adventurers

Into this are two groups which often overlap: The Mercenaries Guild and the Adventurers Guild. Both of which are welcome in almost every nation of Celestia and most towns will have a guild branch and even villages often will have a merc or adventurer ‘board’ where people can post issues.

The Mercenaries Guild was created to keep both parties in line and run by retired mercenaries in most cases. For the solo merc who joins the guild, becomes ‘bonded’, the guild will hold the fee which is given to them when a request is made and so they know they will get paid for doing the work. They also provide basic board and supplies for a small fee to mercenaries. If their is a dispute on payment from either side they go before a Mercenary Guild Review Board. MGRB’s exist in most cities. The most common duties are as caravan guards, bounty hunters, and monster hunters.

For Mercenary companies the Mercenary Guild performs much the same role. They hold fees in advance and, if needed, will help with contract terms between parties. Bonded Merc Companies can buy equipment from the Guild if they can’t find it elsewhere or would rather not look for it themselves. Also just like solos the guild will decide disputes. Companies are composed of between four specialists and hundreds of mercenary soldiers. Sometimes companies will bolster their ranks with ‘solos’ to form rag-tag units, though these usually lack the cohesion of other groups. Merc Companies often get involved in disputes between nobles or merchants, hunting large outlaw bands, or assisting local armies in wars.

The Adventurers Guild deals with ancient ruins from the dead civilizations. Anywhere one can find Ruins you can pretty well expect to find a branch of the Adventurers Guild, even if it is only 1 or 2 people in a shed. They work as intermediaries between adventuring parties and merchants who are looking to buy goods found in the ruins.

Magic’s Place

Magic is rare in Celestia. Except for the Elves who inherit a trace of magical ability, less than 1 in 10 people ever learn simple magic such as the Hybrid classes uses and less than 1 in 100 have the ability to become a true spellcaster of some sort. Because of this most people have a distrust for magic to some degree outside the Elves. Because of their power true spellcasters are often considered an elite roughly on par with rich merchants if not Nobility, at least by the common people. Most Nobles or Rich Merchants on the other hand look to ways to leash people of such power to their cause.

Most magic users are trained in schools across the various nations, though some are taken on as apprentices outside of schools. Usually this is in more isolated places and the quality of instruction is incredibly variable. One aspect of the schools is testing to see how much the students have learned that is essentially identical and a ‘Council of Magic’ of which the deans of the major magic schools all hold a place on decides these standards.

The average trained fighter is about level 3, though the Adventurer’s Guild won’t take most people formally before level 5. Education in ‘High Magic’ tends to always last until level 5, where upon they must pass their tests and become ’journey’men’.

Religion in Celestia

Most places in Celstia adhere to the teachings of the Pantheon of the Wheel in one way or another. Both laymen and spellcasters can become priests in most places, though each region tends to have it’s own ideas on how to worship the deities. The religions in most regions try to appeal to a certain number of Mystics or other true spellcasters to work ‘miracles’ for the people.

The gods themselves take a ‘hands off’ approach to dealing with mortals and do not grant magics directly to their followers. That said, Deities can chose to manifest effects in the material world if they chose. Usually when the will of their followers aligns with their will and at great cost to those who want the deity to manifest. This is due to a mandate of free will the gods have granted mortals. Allowing them to act as they will, unless the consequences might be to high to ignore.

Currency in Celestia

Currency in Celestia tends to vary by region, with each major nation minting certain weights of coins and giving them names. For trade purposes most vendors deal in ‘coin weight’. These weights are by type of coin and there is a standard of ‘general weights’ for coins. Many mercenaries and adventurers don’t carry large amounts of coin, but instead jewelry. Specific jewelry is popular which has pieces which can be ‘broken off’ in set weights like coins or offered up as payment in whole. It’s also not unusual to find coins cut in half or into fourths, exchanges will often issue you new coins if you have sufficient weight and remint your old ones for a fee.

Coin Weight Exchange

• 1 Gold Coins (GC) = 10 Silver Coins (SC)
• 1 Silver Coin (SC) = 10 Copper Coins (CC)

Trade Bars

Trade Bars, which are preferred by many merchants, are stamped or graven with the Symbol of the Trading company or Government that originally crafted them. Silver and Gold are the most common base materials for these bars.

• Silver Trade Bar = 25 GC
• Gold Trade Bar = 250 GC

Cost of Living in Celestia

While the exact amounts are going to vary by region, here are the costs of some common things in Celestia:

Item	Weight	Cost
Pilgrim’s Kit	40 lbs.	21 SC
Luxury Kit	25 lbs.	23 SC
Frame Backpack (100 lbs.)	10 lbs.	10 SC
Backpack (40 lbs.)	3 lbs.	6 SC
Blanket	4 lbs.	2 SC
Ceramic Bottle (1 quart/2 lbs.)	1 lb.	3 CC
Canteen (1 quart/2 lbs.)	1 lb.	1 SC
Climbing Gear	4 lbs.	2 SC
Cord 3/16" (90 lb. test, 10 yards)	0.5 lbs.	1 CC
Fishhooks & Line	-	5 SC
Iron Spike (Piton)	0.5 lbs.	1 CC
Lantern	2 lbs.	2 SC
Oil	1 lb.	2 CC
6 foot Pole	3 lbs.	5 CC
Pouch (3 lbs.)	-	1 SC
Rope (3/8", 300 lbs. test, 10 yards)	1.5 lbs.	5 CC
Rope (3/4", 1100 lbs. test, 10 yards)	5 lbs.	2.5 SC
Sleeping Fur	8 lbs.	5 SC
1-Person Tent	5 lbs.	5 SC
2-Person Tent	12 lbs.	8 SC
4-Person Tent	30 lbs.	15 SC
Torch	1 lb.	3 CC
Traveler’s Rations	0.5 lbs.	2 CC
Waterskin (1 gallon/8 lbs.)	1/4 lb.	1 SC
Drum	2 lbs.	4 SC
Item	Weight	Cost
Item	Weight	Cost
Item	Weight	Cost
Item	Weight	Cost
Item	Weight	Cost
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Festivals

• Festival of Candles
  • The Festival of Candles is a holiday in the Balisar Empire, Chathair, Valencia, Prūsija, Víkingr, Vicino, & Visilia. It happens around Midwinter’s day and so is often considered part of the Midwinter festival. The exact origins are lost to time, but common elements exist: A parade at night where everyone carries candles through town, A Feast by candlelight, Special holiday candies, and the day after is a second feat at noon.