"By the power of Sindra, I impart upon you a covenant with the gods and your liege. May you serve me faithfully for all of your days, and act chivalrous and honorable at all times and in all places, 'lest your knighthood be stripped from you. Arise, Sir Hermann of Volgen, and ride to the Manor of Ulgitta, which I entrust to you to rule in my stead."

-Count Rodiger of Grossewald

Oberen Culture

Noble Knights

The Oberen tribes lived north of the imperial province of Avenus, in the sparse woodland and rolling plains that open up into the Wild Steppes. There, they enter the historical record through their first interactions with the Arissian Empire, who subjugated them and forced them to pay tribute. After years of skirmish and war, often fighting with the Arissians as Auxiliary Mercenaries, the Oberen got better and better at fighting them in battle, and using guerilla tactics to get their way. Eventually, the tributes from the Oberens to Arissia became donatives from Arissia to the Oberens, as it became cheaper to simply pay the barbarians off rather than fight with them. Eventually, the growing power of the steppe warriors to the north, and the coming of a powerful Khagan, drove the Oberens to seek refuge in imperial territory. The situation at the border was mismanaged, and the Oberens came pouring in, armed and non-combatants alike. They settled in Avenus and Silentium, a richer land than they knew. The Arissians attempted to control them, disarm them, and incorporate them, but it became difficult, if not impossible. They lived as one people, undivided and unassimilated into the Arissian culture. They fought for the Arissians, but under their own leaders, and in the last years of the 2nd Era, many treacheries and misunderstandings came about from this, leading to battles lost or battles never fought when they should have been. Many believe that the mass-migration of the Oberen people prevented the Arissians from properly responding to the later crisis of the steppe nomads, and as such, may have initiated the near collapse of the Arissian Empire, and its withdraw from the eastern provinces. Today, the Oberen, staying behind in the lands they immigrated to, act as the rulers of the Land of Oberbrücken, having incorporated many of the Arissian population into their culture. In order to rule a chaotic land, the Oberen turned to a system of land-owners forming a military elite, the system of feudalism, and there is perhaps no better exemplar of a truly feudal culture in Adra other than that of Oberen.

          The system of Feudalism is the core of Oberen life around which everything else revolves. The culture is divided into three classes, the serfs, agrarian peasants who work in toil, giving much of the output of their labor to their liege lords, and who can generally not leave the area they farm. Then, the middleborn merchants, craftsmen, and soldiers, people who live in cities and towns, and serve the many jobs and positions outside of agriculture. These people tend to be freeborn, meaning they can live where they want and pursue an occupation of their choice. Finally, at the top of the hierarchy are the highborn, lords and ladies, clergy, and knights, and learned ones, all of who rule the society, lead its armies, or administer laws. Generally speaking, there is no method of social mobility, except in two cases: skilled serfs will often be recognized for their skill and are allowed to join guilds and practice crafts, and middleborn who show great bravery, impress their lord, or have a connection can train to become a knight, though except in highly unusual circumstances, this training begins during childhood or not at all. This system of knighthood is omnipresent in the Oberen psyche. Knights are, ideally, not just skilled warriors. They are also virtuous ladies and gentlemen, people of the highest caliber, who serve their lieges faithfully, honor the gods piously, and protect the common people valiantly. They are practically viewed to be saint-like, and the nobles of Oberbrücken ensure that people view them in such flattering lights. While some knights can live up to the legend of their virtue, most fall short, and in reality, knights are often well-trained, but vicious killers, comfortable with all of the perfectly evil and horrid aspects of warfare. On the contrary, not only are they comfortable with them, they tend to revel in them. Oberens are also quite submissive to the feudal system. It is obvious why highborn and even middleborn would cooperate with a system that favored them, but the vast majority of serfs in the lowborn class still cooperate, because they are raised to view the system as unchangeable, and the rulers as ordained by the gods. As long as their crops are plentiful, their taxes bearable, and their villages are protected, these peasants cooperate happily with the system, living their simple lives as happily as they can. Unlike many of their neighbors, particularly the Arissians and the Kamanoans, the Oberens find trade to be distasteful. It is viewed that owning land should be the only righteous way to earn a fortune, and merchants are often framed as scheming criminals or treacherous foreigners in the eyes of the public. Perhaps one of the most famous parts of life in Oberbrücken is the instability of the nation and its people. While the Imperial system of rule is characterized by extreme instability at the top, the feudal system of rule is characterized by extreme instability at the lower rungs. As such, infighting between low-level nobles, such as barons, mayors, counts, and even dukes at times, is not uncommon. And, the King or Queen must constantly manage the realm well, or risk one ruler accumulating too much power, and attempting to overthrow them. The only hope of the Oberen people is that this violence will not spill out into all out war, dragging the serfs and tradesmen with it. All the while, the virtuous ideal of the noble knight serves as a patriotic figure to look to, and it unites a people who only centuries before were a tribal horde on the borderlands.

          The Oberen people are most highly concentrated in the two kingdoms of the oberen, Western-Oberbrücken and the richer Östlich-Oberbrücken. The races of the Oberens are most predominately human, and halfling, though in the migratory movements that formed the modern Oberen people, many hosts of different races joined the Oberen on their move south. The most popular pantheons among the Oberens are Ariendale and Sindra. While many would assume Sorthal would be popular, rather than him, many knights and warriors of Oberen blood revere Saint Rufio. Oberens tend to be chivalrous, honorable, and loyal. They also tend to be slavish, close-minded, and self-righteous. The language spoken by almost all Oberens is, quite naturally, Oberen.

If you choose the Oberen Culture, you gain the following:

~Either a +1 to your Charisma score or a +1 to your Strength score~

~A -1 to your Wisdom score~

~As a known language, Oberen Common~

~A Sub-Discipline in every knowledge skill on checks relating to Oberen Culture~

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