Tronarii

"Tronarii might be hot as balls but it's worth a visit if you're looking for a sword that will stay as sharp and as durable as the day you bought it until the day you die."
—Guildmaster Alabasker Chives, Savarran Smither's Guild

Writer Credit

BubbleLord
Tronarii Codex Entry

Codex

Description

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Tronarii — known as the land of Shimmering Bronze by its inhabitants and many merchants — is a nation that lies across the ocean to the southeast of the Frost Marches. The home of the Marked Merk Mercenaries, the nation is rather harsh in opposing ways to the Frost Marches; it consists primarily of deserts and heated hills, with many of its people living within valleys and oases. Originally a forge nation within the now-defunct Belharan Empire, Tronarii boasts some of the finest bronze craftsmen in the world; however, it is also home to the some of the bloodiest battles through its famous trade wars.

The population density of Tronarii is primarily human and catfolk with orcs being a close third within the badlands; other races make up spread populations in insignificant numbers. In terms of useful land, Tronarii is not very large; as a coastal peninsula, many of its natives commonly migrate farther east toward other nations or across the sea to find better lives. It supports few true cities and has little for a proper army but easily maintains its historical independence; everyone but the peak empire's might has failed to conquer it thanks to its vast defensive deserts and loyal mercenary legions. It is also home to some of the hardiest horses, thanks to withstanding harsh weathers and building the stamina for traversing the larger stretches of less-than-hospitable sands.

History

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Before the fall of the Belharan Empire, Tronarii was one of its first and most grand conquests — at the time, the nation had been comprised of nomadic tribes that sought only to survive the harshness of the desert. With Belharan generals and researchers, however, the nation popped up overnight when initial surveys; the amount of bronze in the region back then had not been the only metal produced but gave it immediate precedence for protection. The entire span of the empire saw Tronarii change from tribes to landed nobles and the escalation of their technology alongside it, guiding them to become smiths.

When the Belharan Empire fell, Tronarii was one of its many successor states to immediately rise in its wake; they hastily arranged for the recall of specialists that knew how to work their bronze forges and the nobles arranged for permanent residence. While many nations faltered, Tronarii became a bastion in the east and wrestled its neighbor countries from the throes of chaos. But in their action, Tronarii lost many — including the specialists that had mastered more than mere bronze but the ability to work iron. This led to the first true string of events that turned the people against the nobles and utterly prevented Tronarii from re-establishing the pride of the Belharan Empire; their hastily organized armies had doomed countless craftsmen that could have preserved or even built works of unknown origin today.

The most prominent events in recent history are Tronarii's bloody wars — known as trade wars — that started about three centuries ago when the most powerful merchants within the nation began to finally see to the recovery of Tronarii as a nation. Many of the merchant class saw themselves above the Tronarii Republic's various representatives and Senate, raising their own armies with their amassed wealth.

One fateful night, Tronarii's senate crumbled. Nobles took various sides in the trade wars using their homes and lives. They were mere prizes to the merchants for their battles, no different than the copper and tin mines spotting much of the countryside. Growing wealth changing hands brought further attention from the orc raiders, destroying the fleets of the local lieges and further sealing their demise.

Since then, many nobles lost their titles or were forced to marry. This led to changing the overall control of the nation to the merchants and soldiers, using their copious goods and equipment as collateral to bail the nobles out and secure their positions and titles. This led about to the establishment of the "Bronze Barrier" and complete removal of traditional feudalism for mercantile struggles. In more modern days, the Republic is now seen as a puppet facade that ensures a smooth organization focused on profit.

Geography

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In terms of useful land, Tronarii isn't very large; as a coastal peninsula, much of its people are forced to migrate further east toward other nations or across the sea to find better lives all the time. It supports few true cities and has little for a proper army but maintains its historical independence to everyone but the peak empire's might through its vast defensive deserts and loyal mercenary legions.

Much of Tronarii's coastline is unguarded, entirely lacking natural defenses beyond its major ports and making settling long-term impossible for much of it. As a result, the geography of its coastline has been plagued for by orc raiders in high quantities all seeking to break into the nation. Orcish ships have since come in enough number that when they're ultimately buried into the shorelines, they create artificial hills that can better catch coastal winds in an uncanny form of wind-catching dunes. Orc settlement has in effect — as far as researchers and wind mage specialists are concerned — caused better temperatures and cooler winds to cross the desert, ultimately helping expand or even create oases. Within the last twenty years that this has occurred, Tronarii has recorded roughly one-hundred and four (104) new oases forming throughout the desert and allowing easier traversal and even a few new villages to form.

Government

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Tronarii emulates feudalism despite calling itself a Republic; many of its senators are figurehead nobles who act as diplomats for the merchants and warlords, parlaying and feigning their meetings as regular republic votes.

As one of the Belharan successor states, Tronarii prides itself in good relationships with those who proudly identify with the empire. Even in recent ages, most Tronariians know of their value in the world with and without it. This, in turn, has left them at odds with those who seek to continue dismantling the defunct nation's corpse and often many of its mercenaries find their way abroad beneath coin for those trying to protect artifacts, relics and locate any information. Diplomatically this has left them stagnant to most of the world save for their neighbor, Jassira.

Interactions between those from Jassira and Tronarii are rather unique — both nations are primarily deserts but with different traditional views on rulership. Many hailing from Tronarii view Jassira as a bastion of freedom from the bronze-necessitated class system. However, the only thing Tronarii boasts is that its feudalistic warfare between merchants is overall more stable for its people — many cities might swap hands through wealth but bloodshed is often kept small or outside of the city street.

Many, however, view their neighbor as an obstacle; while Tronarii flows with trade, gold, and bronze, Jassira will always remain as a shadow that could invade them. Older generations of Tronarii-born citizens often learned this from border skirmishes but those of the newer generation seldom care for trifling with those from Jassira as the nations have been in good relations since.

Culture

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The value placed upon bronze has formed a cultural phenomenon known as the Bronze Barrier; this form of class separation means that many ex-nobles and beggars spend much of their life impoverished or outright enslaved without any form of status.

Most men and women of Tronarii live in the northern stretches of the nation where the weather is temperate. Yet many still dress in light-weighted clothing to protect from both sunlight and strong winds, for both the morning and nights. Serfs within the nation may wear as little as loincloths and shawls however while citizens wear togas; regardless of class, one will find that citizens will often have lengthier designs to allow them to roll or slack it for various occasions. Merchants, mages and those with any power left in the nation distinguish themselves with feather decorations adjoined to the hems of their toga.

A sign of status in Tronarii, however, is someone who carries a bronze ring, knife or sword signifying wealth and the ability to protect one's self. This is why the mercenaries of the land have become so famous; they appear akin to minor lords within the merchant-contested nation and carry themselves at even stride with some of the most well-tested soldiery throughout the world. Many believe because of this the mercenary life is easy or privileged — but unlike the entitled or the enlisted, mercenaries have almost exclusively earned their metal.

As a testament to their wealth, soldiers from Tronarii are often adorned in the finest bronze and metal in the land. Kept lightweight and durable, the works from the nation can often fetch a pretty coin on reputation alone from their rigorous alloy perfection rituals. Even now with the most recent stint of wars, the nation is considered one of the wealthiest in the known world thanks to this; but it also has a single downside. Travelers consider the nation wealthy and visit it without knowing the true nature of their waning open-battles. Only those who survive the nation could entrust the truest advice; if you go to the land, find someone who can help you avoid the worst of things — the last thing anyone needs is to be drawn into the hectic mercantile animosity wreathing the rich sands of Tronarii.

Religion

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Worship in Tronarii is largely non-focused, worshipping all members of the Pantheon. One of its ports additionally acts as an invaluable hub for members of Tira's paladin order. However, Mallach is perhaps one of the few gods left under-worshipped; few have time for play in the busy nation and end up under appreciating the deity.

Economy

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Despite being a desert nation, the amount of bronze available in Tronarii makes it one of the most economically stable and powerful nations in the known world. Further adding to this, their peninsula's location within the middle of Jassiran and ex-Belharan trade routes keeps the merchant class of Tronarii as some of the most powerful and wealthy individuals alive.

Codex Acquisition

Only one of the conditions below must be met to unlock the Tronarii Codex entry:

• Talk to Lusamine About Her
• Talk to Lieutenant Jen about Mercenaries
• Find Lieutenant Jen talking with Ogrish for repairs

Other Information

A desert nation known as the land of Shimmering Bronze, Tronarii is located on a peninsula within the world of Savarra on the same continent as Jassira. It lies across the southern sea from the Frost Marches, Tronarii once acted as the smith-nation of Belhar before earning its independence long ago. Every member of the Marked Merk Mercenaries came from Tronarii, growing up or being born there.

Unlocking the Tronarii Codex Entry will provide a minor scene variety in:

• Talking to Lieutenant Jen about Mercenaries

Trivia

• The Tronarii Codex was created before the Codex system was; it was originally intended to be implemented alongside Lieutenant Jen.
• It is home to some of the hardiest horses thanks to withstanding harsh weathers and building the stamina for traversing the larger stretches of less-than-hospitable sands. Jen's horse was bred using a Belhar draft mare and a Tronarii racing stud. Strangely enough, there are few centaurs within Tronarii.
• Tronarii and Jassira were unironically made and coincidentally were almost identical; this led to relocating the two onto the same continent.