The Kingdom of Iburnea

Details
Population: 12 million (60% Human, 30% Elf, 10% Half-Elf)

Government: Feudal

Geography
The kingdom spans an area of approximately 200,000 sq. miles. The land is a large peninsula
that is surrounded by oceans except to the south-east. It is cut off from the mainland by mountains and
rivers flow from these mountains through the region. Some scattered mountains run along the north as
well. Several islands in the eastern ocean have been settled and are considered part of the kingdom.

Climate
The northern section of the peninsula is dominated by deciduous forests and grasslands. The
center has a temperate oceanic or Mediterranean climate which gradually transition into semi-arid
deserts to the south, and mountains to the west.

History
Iburnea was founded about 500 years ago by an alliance of humans and elves. The large human
tribe known as the Ibur slowly conquered and assimilated all other tribes along the northand east coasts
of the peninsula. Their name was the ancient word for river. They mined ore from the mountains and
became masters of the forge. They also tamed one of their greatest rivals, the wolf, in days long past
turning them into their loyal hounds. Over the centuries it took to unify and expand their numbers
swelled into the hundreds of thousands.

Conversely, the elves controlled the lands to the south-east. While it was not as arable as the
north, their proximity to rivers from the mountains and the coast gave them plenty of food for their
smaller population. Unlike the Ibur, who focused their interests on the land, they looked to the sea and
became masters of fishing and trading. They became rich and diplomatic, being the first to contact the
Ibur and other peoples deeper into the continent. They called themselves the Auq’Nea or simply, the
Watermen, to those who did not speak their language. They were the first to encounter the raiders from
the south. They skirmished with them at sea while the humans worked to push their influence off the
land.

Soon the land controlled by the Ibur grew until the Auq’Nea were no longer distant traders, but
a neighboring nation. Trade continued, but tensions were high. Both races were fine with trading with
other races from afar but having them near and immigrating threatened racial violence. Worse still, the
humans desired more land to expand into and wished for the resources, and especially, navy of the
elves to better hold off the southern barbarians which continued their raids and invasions.

War was inevitable and sparked for reasons lost to even the memory of even the elves. Decades
passed of alternating strained peace, unspoken conflict, and all out war. The humans brought numerous
armed soldiers and siege engines, and the elves countered with fleets of ships and expert archers. Peace
deals were proposed and honored for some time, but they always failed in time.

However, this did not last. Over 500 years ago the two nations had just endured the greatest
conflict in the last 100 years. Tens of thousands perished, infrastructure was destroyed, and gold was
seemingly thrown in the ocean. Both nations were ready to acquiesce to peace but seeing the other’s
weakness both pressed on. Then the barbarians from the south attacked in force. Hundreds if not
thousands of ships landed on the beaches of the Ibur and Auq’Nea. Both nations were on the brink of
being overrun until elves from Auq’Nea traveled to the chief of the Ibur.

These elven diplomats threw themselves upon his mercy and begged for an alliance against not
just against the barbarians, but against conflict in the future. The chief was intrigued and arranged a
meeting with the ruling elves. The human chief and elven merchant-lords met on good terms in a small
town to the north that was free from barbarian attacks. There they drafted and signed a document
known as the Iburnean Charter, a document that outline the permanent alliance between the humans
and elves. Immediately their lands were joined as one power, the Kingdom of Iburnea. The Ibur chief
became the reigning king and the elven merchant-lords either became dukes of the elven lands or his
advisors.

Unification under any other circumstance would have taken a long time, or, more likely, have
been impossible. However, due to the invaders and the fact that the nations had slowly been
intermingling races over the centuries made the process much more viable in a short time. The elves
were outfitted with the advanced weapons of the humans and the humans were given command of
elven ships. With their resources pooled, the Iburneans cut off the supply and reinforcement ships from
the barbarian homeland stranding the forces on the coast. Eventually, the barbarians capitulated and
were either killed or ransomed to their homeland.

To complete the alliance the King and his advisors devised a plan to divide up the land into
duchies which contained counties, which contained baronies and cities. Noble houses were formed from
war heroes and powerful merchants. Finally, the King married one of the elven merchant-lords
producing two half-elven children which, while not in line for the throne, were treated as royalty.

The Symbiosis
Despite the peace, not all was as it seemed. The elven merchant-lords request was not entirely
altruistic. They didn’t believe that merely integrating the humans and elves would work as a permanent
solution. They new that, eventually, tensions would rise, and it would be back to all out war. The only
way to guarantee lasting peace was to engineer it in secret. The elves used their diplomatic talents,
wealth, and magic to put themselves in a favorable stance to humans.

Humans outnumbered elves significantly since they reproduced faster and died sooner. This
made it easier to bring humans into elven lands where they had more cultural influence. Elves also
tended towards being advisors, spouses, and business partners with humans who, with their heightened
ambition, competed for high ranking positions. It was not long before the biggest and most profitable
merchants were elves or had elven allies, rulers of all ranks had elves in their closest circles, and schools,
magical and otherwise, had elves leading and teaching.

This conspiracy on behalf of the elves was known as the Rirnfairair or the Symbiosis. The elven
leaders believed it as the only means by which the humans could learn to live alongside with the elves
once the barbarians left their shores. Ultimately, the plan worked. The humans learned to accept the
elves in their society and the elves ruled in secret leading with deception. suggestion, and illusion.

Elven society under the Symbiosis was split into three classes. First, the leaders and puppet-
masters of elven society were called the Nidier, or Mutuals. They dealt with the dukes, counts, and the
royal family. They dressed extravagantly, spent time in high society, and made the sweeping decisions
for where the Symbiosis would take the elves and the kingdom. Second, the skilled craftsmen,
magicians, and associates of barons and mayors were known as the Sunalrer, or Commensals. They
made up most of the elven society and were the ones that maintained the conspiracy by the spread of
ideas and gathering of information. They rarely got their hands dirty and could mostly just engage the
people of the kingdom with little worry about upholding the secret. Finally, there are the low-class, the
untalented, and those given the dark and dirty work were known as the Feseraida, or Parasites. They
were elves without the ability to support themselves with magic or a craft, left as commoners, criminals,
or beggars. They were expendable and were sent on missions of blackmail, espionage, and assassination
to prevent the Symbiosis from becoming known.

Not all elves were in support of the conspiracy or the class structure. The former group formed
together to create the Enalrers, or Amensals. They were primarily made up of Commensals who were
dissatisfied with the deception and disliked lying to friends and neighbors. They believed that the
conspiracy ran its course and was no longer necessary. They thought that if the revelation of the
conspiracy was explained slowly and carefully, disaster could be avoided. The elves who resented being
lower class formed a group known as the Rasacasr, or the Secret-Speakers. They were primarily
Parasites, but had some Commensals, who wanted to have some say in the direction of the Symbiosis.
To do this they threatened to reveal the conspiracy to high ranking humans which would all but
guarantee civil war between humans and elves. They used this to extort change from the Mutuals when
they disliked the directions things were going.

Notes
Full disclosure – I used this (melodic 2) to make most of the elven words to make them sound consistent