Dolac

Dolac

Government
Plutocracy / Monarchy
Capital
Avale
Cities
Ageha, Connorsville, Taldam, Thimonnier, Ultrem
Major Worship
Beory, Osprem, Pholtus, Ulaa

---

Climate
Temperate
Exports
Almost anything
Imports
Almost anything

The country is bordered by the Sarodin Sea to the north, Otteun to the south, the Giant's Crown Mountains to the southeast, and Mifora to the east.

This former part of the Miforan Empire is quite rich due to its geographical location. Being remarkable ship builders and having access to both the Tal river and the Sarodin Sea meant it quickly grew into the most important trade hub in the world.

Its people are of a no-nonsense kind (many would say blunt) who take pride in their profession and living a 'proper' life, instead of wasting their time on this world. This is also why worship of Ulaa is common in the country, even though there are no mountains and little mining, the Dolacs appreciate her diligence.

The eastern part of the country is where most of the wealth is concentrated; the shipyards, textile industry, and distilleries. The poorer western part contains little more than agricultural and fishing villages, some leather-working industry, and peat bogs.

Government

Technically the country is a monarchy with the current queen, Helia, being a direct descendant of Paneg Sevso himself, at least that is what the royal house claims. However, the queen is not much more than a figure head, the actual power in the nation is held by its many guilds.

The guilds (see below) appointed delegates to the Council of Torchbearers. This august body holds all the real power in the country and can change laws and introduce new ones. The country has a large cadre of civil servants, the Docami, who are tasked with running things. Though not an official guild, they have a lot of influence.

Taxes are very low for the guilds but average for the common citizen. Any goods entering the country pay a substantial tariff to offset the low taxes, the Council makes sure not to increase these too much and lose their status as the preeminent trading nation.

Crime is about average in the large cities and the more populated parts of the country. Roving bands are common in the western reaches. All towns are policed by the Humtache, part of the Docami, they are organized nationally and are not under the command of the local provost (mayor). The Internal Security Department is the nation's secret service, a direct successor to the Imperial Security Department.

Magic

As in most countries, Abjura Dolana is tasked with the licensing of arcane spellcasters. Any entering the country have to buy a permit for no less than 50 gold pieces. This being Dolac, there is a reason behind this; taking an unpaid job for any of the guilds will refund the entire amount. These jobs are often mundane things like using mending or sending magic but the guilds make sure they get their money's worth. With so many rich guilds around, there is quite the demand for spellcasters thus many can be found here, mostly in the large cities.

Religion

Worship is very much split between three gods in Dolac. Beory is very popular in the rural parts of the country, Ulaa in those parts with much industry, and Osprem for anyone sailing the Sarodin Sea or having jobs related to maritime endeavors. Poltus' following is dwindling here as it is in most places, though most cities, even those of smaller size, will still have a temple dedicated to him. Ehlonna has some dedicated followers in the west of the country and Lirr has temples in the three largest cities.

The Guilds

The real power in the country is held by the various guilds. There are guilds for most types of crafts and services. Letters patent (national laws) prohibit anyone from practicing these professions without guild membership. Some guilds are so in demand that any potential apprentice must buy their way into the guild, while others are always looking for more workers. Most guilds have five ranks: Apprentice, Artisan, Journeyman, Master, and Grand Master.

Guilds are usually organized by city, sometimes by region. Among the (grand)masters of the guild one 'boss' is elected to lead. All the bosses of a guild will then elect one of them to be the national 'top boss', also called the 'boss of bosses'. The eleven most powerful guilds each appoint a delegate to sit on the Council of Torchbearers, this is often the top boss but it doesn't have to be.

A listing of some of the important guilds.

Guild	Notes	Sign	Color
Alchemists & Apothecaries Guild		Mortar & pestle	Purple
Armorers & Weaponsmiths Guild	Surprisingly large, also includes regular smiths who are looked down upon	Shield	Silver
Guild of Bookkeepers, Notaries & Scribes		Book	Black
Brewers Guild	Both breweries and distilleries	Barrel	Orange
Guild of Cartographers & Surveyors	Small and very protective	Compass rose	Blue
Entertainers Guild	Actors, musicians, etc, not all that well respected nor powerful	Mask	Pink
Guild of Glassmakers	The last guild to be added.	Prism	Clear
Leatherworkers Guild		Hide	Tan
Mercantile Guild	Does not include any merchant houses, only smaller businesses	Scales	Green
Seafarers Guild		Sail	Azure
Shipwrights Guild	See themselves as the preeminent guild	Ship	Gold
Guild of Stevedores	Includes warehouse workers and the like	Crate	Red
Stonemasons Guild		Mason's square	White
Weavers and Tailors Guild	Hemp, linen, and wool	Thread	Grey
Guild of Woodworkers		Saw	Brown

Farmers, hunters, peat cutters, and most unskilled laborers are not organized into guilds and have paid the price for it. The Council of Torchbearers will not allow new guilds to be formed, so some professions have organized in other ways. These include the Adventurers Association, the Banking Alliance, and the Messengers Coalition.

Geography

The land northwest of the Tal river delta is one of imposing dunes with behind them sporadic forests and many peat bogs. A large stretch along the Fiumare river contains land that is suitable for both crop growing and grazing for cows. South of the Fiumare the land gets hillier and contains more forests and less agriculture though close to the Otteun border many orchards can be found.

The Tal river delta contains many islands, a few of which are permanent enough to have been inhabited for centuries, whereas others appear and disappear over time. Marshes dominate the landscape around the delta, it takes a lot of effort from the government to keep the major roads from flooding.

East of the delta the dunes give way to beaches. Behind them are many fens and heaths. As the land rises to the south we find newly planted forests and grassy hills. Sheep are more numerous than people in this part of the country.

To the south, the eastern bank of the Tal river is mostly used to graze cows, where the western bank is mostly used to grow vegetables and rye.

Sevso Sound

The last fifteen kilometers of the Fiumare river before it empties into the Tal estuary is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 1,200 metres or more on either side. Two special rocks can be found along the top, one resembling a heron with its wings spread wide and the other looks like a penguin, many of which can be found here.

Wizards Tower

This butte rises 256 meters from the ground, at the top it is 64 meters in diameter, while the base is 128 meters in diameter. It can be found in the west of country, there are no mountains, or even tall hills, anywhere nearby and it is still a mystery how it came to be. The name was given because of the resemblance to the types of towers wizards like to build.

Ecology

Rabbits, hares, squirrels, chipmunks, moles, voles, shrews, weasels, badgers, and bats are common in forests and fields. The marshes are full of beavers, otters, minks, muskrats, and turtles. Wild goats are seen in small numbers in the hilly parts of the south.

Many deer still roam the country, moose can be found in the south. Wolves are relatively rare, foxes are abundant and boar somewhere in the middle. Rarely bison can be seen in the eastern parts of the country. Black bears are quite common, as are wildcats. Snakes are copious in the wetlands though most aren't dangerous. Many frogs and toads can be found here as well, including a giant frog not seen anywhere else. Caiman are not native to the country but there are a few large 'farms' in the Tal river delta where they are kept for their skin. Occasionally some escape and now wild caiman have become an actual danger.

Common birds include gulls, terns, herons, stork, stonechats, jackdaws, blackbirds, magpies, bitterns, coots, grebes, ducks, geese, and swans. The Heyhe penguin with its striking orange markings is exclusive to the region and can be found along the Fiumare river. The kestrel is the most seen raptor after the many species of owl that make their home here. The sparrowhawk and osprey are also quite abundant.

Fish, such as bream, roach, rudd, pike, carp, tench, ide, and perch thrive in the many lakes and rivers. Crabs, shrimp, mussels, and snails are farmed on an industrial scale with most exported to Mifora. Dolac has an extensive fishing fleet with sole, plaice, mackerel, whiting, and cod being the most caught fish. The whaling industry is even bigger though, bringing in many baleen whales. Unique to Dolac are electric eel that come from the Sarodin Sea and swim through the entire delta every autumn.

Monsters

Harpies are likely the biggest threat to anyone venturing in the wilds, they can be found throughout most of the country. The aurumvorax is a monster that is surprisingly common even though there isn't that much metal ore or mining in the country. Another real danger are gricks that have adapted to living in forests, they are very hard to spot.

The Restless (undead) are common here as in most places, with the ghoul as the most encountered after the zombie. In the less settled parts of the country fey creatures are prevalent. Giants are usually only seen near the Giant's Crown Mountains. A number of kobold tribes live in the western part of the country but they trade with nearby villages and are not a danger.

The many wetlands come with their own kinds of monsters such as mephits, shadow mastiffs, oozes, bog hags, mud hulks, and the ever present will-o'-wisps.

Persistent stories tell of Sól's Hole. It is said that when this goddess from the First Era died, she fell to earth in a column of light that permanently blinded all who saw it. Afterwards nothing was left but a hole in the ground hundreds of meters in diameter and deeper than anything. Supposedly, ever since monsters have been coming to the surface, particularly ones with tentacles. The location of this place depends on where you ask; some place it deep into the southern hills, others in the peat bogs, and others still claim it is to be found deep in an eastern forest.

History

Before the rise of the Miforan Empire, the area of what is now Dolac contained five countries, foremost of which was Legre, with its capital, Hegio, A nation of fishermen and shrewd river traders, it stood no chance against Avale Sevso and his armies and was soon conquered. The countries west of the Tal river, relatively poor and uncivilized by Legre's standards, followed soon after.

When the empire split, Empress Ateia's daughter Tullia, the second child, who could not be more the opposite of her namesake, was assigned Secus province. She had no experience nor talent ruling anything, let alone a country, and in the first weeks lost a large part of her eastern lands to Mifora. She had to lean heavily on her advisers and mostly ignored her courtiers in favor of generals and merchants.

Soon the province returned to being the powerhouse it had been before the split, and it now did the same as Mifora had done to it; a large part of its western neighbor decided to join and the country grew to its current size. When King Allev took the throne he turned out to be even weaker than his mother. He signed off on the country's name being changed to Dolac, "to better reflect a new beginning", and then foolishly signed new laws that severely weakened the royal house in favor of the Council of Torchbearers.

No longer being under Imperial oversight or taxed as much, merchants and artisans formed their own guilds which quickly gained in influence. The army lost out in the struggle for dominance and are no longer part of the Council of Torchbearers. Nowadays there is little that happens in the country without consent of the guilds.

Culture

While humans still make up the largest share of the population, the other races have all increased in numbers quite a lot over the centuries. These days dwarves, halfling, half-elves, and half-orcs all make up anywhere between ten and fifteen percent of the population. Gnomes are not numerous anywhere but in Dolac they might be about five percent of the population. Beyond that there is a sizeable group of more exotic races that are quite rare elsewhere. In Avale they like to claim their city is even more diverse than GICOM.

While many buildings in Avale and the other large cities are made of stone, many still from the days of empire, wooden buildings are a lot more numerous. In the western part of the country fully wooden houses are the norm, in the other parts of the country most buildings are timber frame with brickwork.

Theater in Dolac has become something quite unlike other countries. Plays have become productions that feature lots of magical effects, a full orchestra, many, oft replaced backgrounds, usually with animated features. In certain plays actors will go through many different outfits, sometimes as quick-changes for comedic effect. New plays are written every year, most of them are comedies though of late a new genre has become popular; the adventure story, usually these are still played for laughs. Even smaller towns will host these extravagant affairs whenever possible, many Dolac see this as the one kind of indulgence they are allowed.

Another favorite evening diversion is the nitery; these are clubs with an interchanging stage show. Musicians alternate with all kinds of entertainers; mimes, ventriloquists, magicians, tellers of comedic stories or jokes, and exotic dancers in the more risque places. Dance is thought of as unseemly in the more conservative parts of the country but popular in the large cities.

The many cows in the eastern part of the country has created an extensive leather industry, mostly centered around Ultrem. In turn this has led to mink farms, as their oil is used to weatherproof the leather. Clothes made of leather have become a very distinct Dolac thing, long coats and pants are the most produced.

A famous Dolac game is gakker; two teams use wooden clubs to sling horseshoes into different zones, from which they are then slung again to scoring zones where odd amounts of shoes score negative points and even amounts positive points, leading to a lot of strategy up to the final sling.

Food

Critics say that Dolac managed to take the few bad aspects of their neighbors' cuisine and combine them into something terrible. Where vegetables are usually blanched in Mifora, here people boil them into an unappealing mush. And where Otteuns have many different ways to prepare their potatoes, the Dolac seem to know of just one; boiling them till they fall off the fork. If you ever want to bring a butcher to tears, ask them about Dolac meat cuts. Somehow they manage to mess up the best parts of any animal, it will come as no surprise that much of the meat here is minced immediately.

With such a huge wealth of herbs and spices being imported, one would have thought that local chefs would have come up with all kinds of unique and delectable dishes, but alas. Much of the food made these days is based on foreign recipes, certainly in the larger towns and cities. The truly Dolac dishes are nothing to write home about.

One such is culpuddle, this is made by boiling kale and potatoes and then mashing it all together. It is usually eaten with some gravy, maybe some cracklings or a small piece of meat on good days. The truly adventurous among the Dolac add some vinegar, pickles, or mustard to the plate.

Porridge is the common breakfast food of the country, in some parts of the country salt is added to it, in others, sugar or honey. Those who can afford it might add raisins or pieces of fruit. Ordinarily the porridge is made from a form of grain, buckwheat or (pearled) barley, but using day old bread as the base is just as common.

Soups made with potato and any vegetables available are often the standard evening meal in the poorer parts of the country, made into a full stew when meat can be afforded. In more prosperous parts the meal often consists of boiled potatoes, a small piece of meat or fish, and vegetables like beetroot, chicory, endives, spinach, or sprouts.

There have been some culinary innovations; deep-fried breaded items have become very popular and are sold at food stalls, fish and meat are the most common but regional variants with egg, or even vegetables exist. Another is the mince mop; a cylinder or disc of minced meat, usually spiced up a little, wrapped in pastry and then baked. Variants with added vegetables never made it.

Beer and hard liquor are quite popular, though public intoxication is one of the cardinal sins for the majority of the Dolacs. Behind closed doors anything seems to be allowed, to the detriment of many. Dolac beers are usually made with pale malt and light in color. Liquors are mostly made of rye and the national drink is the fermented and barrel aged hoddik.