Oritolon (Realm)

The Republic of Oritolon is one of the oldest realms in The Colonies and has a proud, if tragic, history steeped in myth and legend. As much a family as a nation the nobles and people of Oritolon are tolerant, cooperative and dedicated to each other and their realm. Oritolon welcomes the immigration of any nobles who share these valuable qualities. While peaceful by nature the people if Oritolon have honed their skills in warfare defending themselves from the regular incursions of undead hordes into their territory and their long-running war against the despised ideologies of the theocratic states Alowca and sometimes Alebad. These are interesting times in Oritolon; the ongoing war against the church-states and a reorganisation of the council are galvanising the nobles of Oritolon into even greater discussion, cooperation and activity.

Politics

Oritolon is a republic ruled by an elected prime-minister and council.

The laws of Oritolon encourage both individual freedoms and national unity.

Open discussion, debate and rule-by-consensus are well established traits of government in Oritolon.

Oritolon prides itself on it's egalitarian philosophy of equality and tolerance. Nobles of Oritolon are judged on their words and deeds rather than any accident of birth or circumstance.

The Oritolon military, while small, is well organised and dedicated. It tends to be deployed in defense of it's people rather than in the pursuit of aggressive expansionism.

While Oritolon enjoys peaceful relations with most of the other realms on The Colonies we are in a constant struggle against the theocratic state of Alowca due to irreconcilable ideological differences. This also often brings us into conflict with their sometimes ally Alebad.

History

In the depths of history two inseparable heros named 'Atlas' and 'Hrothgar' travelled to a newly discovered island. There they encountered the island's only inhabitants; a serpent with two human heads.

Many heros would attempt to slay such a creature on sight. Atlas and Hrothgar however, perhaps seeing a mirror-image of their own almost symbiotic relationship, conversed with the creature and discovered that it was in fact two creatures known as 'Ulrich' and 'C William' who shared this serpentine body. Finding them intelligent and generous the heros agreed to stay on the island and enjoyed their hosts' seemingly limitless hospitality for some time.

Eventually more nobles started to arrive on the island and struck up a strong sense of kinship with the snake-brothers and heros that they found living. Before long they had established the realm known as Oritolon and with the aid and protection of the snake-brothers they prospered in luxury and peace.

Despite the acceptance and love of the growing human population Ulrich and C William started to feel more and more isolated and excluded from the family of Oritolon. Their strangeness played on their minds and in endless whispered conversations they reinforced each others paranoid fears that eventually the mortals would rebel against them.

Thus began their bitter and eventually tragic plot to divide and weaken the mortals by generating resentment between Atlas and Hrothgar in order to increase both's reliance on the snake-brothers own council. It did not take much time for their poisoned tongues to cause distrust and disorder among the family of Oritolon that grew until it threatened to tip the whole realm into civil war.

So engrossed were the people of Oritolon in their own feuds and arguments it took a newcomer to see the source of the strife in the land. They exposed the desperate, misguided treachery of Ulrich and C William. Infuriated and wracked with remorse Atlas and Hrothgar forgave each other immediately and the people of Oritolon were again united. In terror the serpent-brothers fled their former friends awesome rage, attempting to hide in the icy mountains to the northeast. They were cornered by the heros however and in an epic battle their serpent's body was split in two, seperating the two beings for the first time in eternity.

Whether Ulrich and C William were blessed or cursed is a matter of debate but nevertheless they survived this brutal separation. Once separated, however, they lost their both their strength and their power over the hearts and minds of men. Cowering and broken they were suffered to live only because the heros considered this a far worse punishment than death.

Freed from the pernicious influence of the serpentine brothers the people of Oritolon chose the first mortal ruler of Oritolon - King Olorin. The Oritolon flag was raised that day, a pair of serpents separated by a sword. It has flown ever since.

To be continued..

Culture

The founders of Oritolon long enjoyed a life of leisure with the once benevolent Serpent King and filled the days with song and theatre and their halls with elaborate tapestry and ornate statues.

This love of art has continued throughout the history of Oritolon.

Oritolon still has a strong culture of bardic song and topical theatre. In even the smallest town a rough stage will be found in the town square where travelling artistes ply their trade and spread the news of the day. In Oritolon city it is said that wherever more than four people gather you will find an actor or bard who considers them an audience.

Songs of Oritolon

Geography

The Republic of Oritolon occupies the south-eastern corner of the island known as The Colonies.

From the remote icy peaks of Windaria to the deserts of Narrowdep and and rolling fields of Sovonoval. Oritolon's borders encompass a world's worth of terrain and climate. It's regions vary in size from the vast wooded expanses of Grentzen to the tiny mountain region of Iglavik. Travelling in many of these regions is unforgiving but there are many towns and villages offering hospitality to the journeying noble.

Borders are shared to the north with Lukon and to the east and southeast with The Duchy of Alowca. Oritolon's south-western borders are coastal. The capital, Oritolon City, lies at the mouth of a large natural bay of astounding beauty.

Map of the Republic

Regions

The Regions of Oritolon are Grentzen, Iglavik, Narrowdep, Oritolon, Sovonoval and Windaria (currently rogue).

Nobles

The Council

The council of Oritolon are well established and has had the same members for some time now. They have the backing and trust of the majority of Oritolon nobles.

Prime Minister (Ruler)	Loki Royal Assassin
Minister of Defense (General)	Adam Captain
Grand Justiciar (Judge)	Spearhead Reapers
Minister of Finance (Banker)	Cleatus Maggot
Duke of Oritolon City	Corum Eternal Champion
Marshal of the Army of Oritolon	Gnutt Baboclan

Current Nobles

Adam, alec, Anomalous, Beorn, Chester, Cleatus, Corum, Edge, Elle, Erisha, Folly, Galadriel, Gamblag, Geoffrey, gnutt, Hero, Heroness, Hrun, Ichigo, Joshua, Krystallia, Lazurus The Valiant, Loki, Pericles, Rukia, Spearhead, The Revenge of Jacque, Tsathogua.

Heros of Oritolon

From time to time nobles are recognised for their exceptional courage or devotion to Oritolon.

Their names will be remembered in story and song until Oritolon falls into the sea.

• Worf was given the "Most Valuable New Troop Leader" medal for his enthusiastic and great contribution to Oritolon.

• Ganimende the Ghost was given the "Most Valuable Troop Leader" medal for his consistently excellent service to the realm and for supporting our army by providing detailed reports of enemy movement behind the lines.

• The Barbarian Horde Battle Group (Spearhead, Ned and Tamerran) were awarded the medal of Bravery for facing a superior army, sabotaging enemy advances and bringing valuable information from "behind the lines".

• Julius was awarded the medal of Honour for his brave defense of Windaria.