Location
Chrondor is an agricultural and mercantile state to the west of Varencia . Its northern shores lie adjacent to the Azhure Sea, the inner sea of the Alyndrican continent, and its western side borders Crevice Bay, a rocky and treacherous body of water. Several dangerous swamps and a large natural escarpment separate it from the bulk of Varencia. The repaired remnants of the ancient Wensharian Imperial highway cross its southern borders, providing a fairly safe route for trade and commerce. Chrondor sits at a confluence of natural wind and water currents that cause it to experience an above average amount of rainfall and foggy mists than other kingdoms in the region.
Culture
The culture of Chrondor tends to emulate the middle ages, leaning slightly towards a renaissance, with merchant lords, innovations in trade and finance, and a widespread support for the arts and philosophy. Chrondor has a higher incidence of literacy than most other kingdoms within the Alyndrican continent. Buildings are made mainly of stone and and wood, and tend to be multi-story, with peaked rooflines. Dorians, as some tend to call themselves, mostly dress in shirts and pants of green, brown or blue day to day. With the emphasis on the arts, new styles and colors of clothing come and go with the passing seasons/fads.
Weapons and Armor: Dueling is popular in Chrondor, and as such swords such as the gladius, longsword, rapier, cutlass, are very popular. Chrondor also favors dueling styles and two weapons fighting, making light off-hand weapons such as dagger or main-gauche popular. To support such styles of fighting, light armor (leather, padded, studded leather) is highly preferred.
Religion/Philosophy: The Imperial Temple , the state religion of the Varencian Empire, is very popular within the lands of Chrondor. While Chrondor is home to the main temple of Midas, god of merchants, many of the populace follow and revere the leadership of the Imperial Temple, Tyrand Chauntea.
Organizations
Fighter Organizations
The Society of Swordsman is a loose organization of beings dedicated to perfection in the use of swords. Everything about swords is fascinating to them to such a degree that they devote their lives to the study of swords and their use. Swordsman have a ranking system that they use to gauge their progress against others who share their interest. Much like a martial arts style they are spread across the world with the most skilled among them famous even to non-swordsman. One of their largest and more well known schools is in the kingdom of Chrondor.
The Merchant Princes are the ruling council of the most powerful mercantile guilds in Chrondor. They are involved with trade both over the land and across the sea.
Structure
Chrondor, being a principality of the Varencian Empire, is ruled by an Imperial Legate, who is normally the 2nd in line to the Imperial throne of Varencia. The legate rules in conjunction with the Merchant House of Lords, a council of nobility and merchant lords that numbers from a minimum of 25 to a max of 50. The House of Lords "can" override the rule of the Imperial Legate, but that in turn can be overruled by order of the Imperial throne itself. In practice, it rarely comes to that, as most policies and matters of state are thoroughly discussed prior to any decree or major change.
History
Chrondor was a loose federation of city states prior to the rise of the Wensharian empire. Those city states had been the remnants of an earlier kingdom that had fought a long war with an ancient lizard race that dwelled in the area. The old kingdom had fallen, and the area dissolved into the cities and towns struggling against the lacerta forces. As the kingdom of Wenshar rose in strength to the east of what would become Chrondor, they formed an alliance with the city-states and eventually decimated the lizard forces in the area.
With the threat of annihilation gone, the newly organized city-states formed an alliance with the young kingdom of Wenshar, and eventually became the kingdom/principality known as Crondor today. Years of prosperity passed, until the time of the Wensharian Civil war threw the area back into the dark ages. Coming out of the dark ages, Crondor joined forces with the kingdom of Varencia to protect and civilize the areas they controlled, a partnership that still exists to this day.