Region
A region is the smallest division of land on any continent. The vast majority of regions are controlled by realms, but they may also be rogue; that is, under control of no realm and in a state of anarchy. In order for a realm to exist, it must control one or more regions. From these regions, it receives taxes and areas to build land and grow food. A landed lord is the lowest position of power in a realm.
Region Types
All regions are classified as belonging to one of the following types. The type of a region has some effect on what it can be used for.
Some economic infrastructure cannot be built or subject to conditions in certain regions. For instance:
- Scouts Guild: Cannot be built in cities.
- Recruitment Centre: Rural, Woodland and Badlands have limits on size expansion.
- Fortification: New fortifications can only be built in Townsland regions (max level 2), City regions (max level 5), and Stronghold regions (max level 10).
Badlands
This is a general type for inhospitable and hostile regions, such as the centre of deserts or icy wastes. Badlands are usually almost uninhabited, but some of them offer valuable resources such as gold or furs, while others are locations of strategic importance.
Rural
The most common region type is rural regions. Fields and villages lie within forests and plains, but there are no large settlements. Rural regions usually supply the bulk of food and other resources to a realm.
Woodland
Dense forests that usually combine forestry, hunting and farming. While they yield less food than a rural region, they have a stronger economy and produce more gold.
Mountains
Extensive mountain ranges, usually with a low population but critical resources such as ore or precious stones. Movement through the mountains is often very slow and it is sometimes faster to travel around, even if it is the longer way.
Townsland
More densely populated areas, especially close to rivers, are classified as townsland. Aside from numerous villages, there are a number of smaller and larger towns. These towns can be fortified, making the townsland easier to defend.
City
The region has a major city which dominates it. Cities can be heavily fortified and usually offer the most advanced recruitment options due to the availability of craftsmen.
Stronghold
Some regions are dominated by extensive fortified strongholds. These offer the highest defensive options, but are otherwise usually equal to rural or even badland regions, depending on where they have been built.
Region Control
A region is controlled by a landed lord, such as a Count. These lords are appointed by the duke of the duchy to which the region belongs. There are additional ways that one can attain lordship of a region, such by referndum. If the control of the region should ever move to another realm, then the position is automatically lost. This also happens if the region turns rogue.
The lord manages the day-to-day affairs of the region, including managing the militia, repairing fortifications and holding court. It is their duty to make sure the region stays loyal, happy and under the control of the realm. In return, they are given a percentage of the realm's earnings separate to normal realm taxes on tax day. Frequently, but not always, the members of the realm council (Ruler, General, Judge, Banker) have such a position.
A lord of a city or stronghold is called a Duke or Duchess, and rules a Duchy. Duchy's are subdivisions in the realm, giving a few nobles some control over a small number of regions and lesser lords. All of these lords also answer to the ruler.
Region Stats
There are four stats making up the core of management around a region: production, morale, loyalty and control. Three(production, morale, and loyalty) of these are represented as percentages to the Lord and knights of the region, and as descriptions to everyone else, and will have an effect on the successful management of a region to maximise its benefit to the realm.
Production
Production is the ability of the region to maximise its productivity in things such as raising gold and growing food. The percentage shown can fluctuate within 5% in any larger, busier realm and will usually bounce back to 100% relatively quickly. It can also be recovered by civil work. However, if a battle takes place in a region, infrastructure may be damaged and production is likely to fall to some degree. There are eight different descriptive levels of production: Stopped, Plodding, Crawling, Slow, Good, Busy, Thriving, and Booming.
| Description | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Stopped | 0-9% |
| Plodding | 10-19% |
| Crawling | 20-39% |
| Slow | 40-59% |
| Good | 60-74% |
| Busy | 75-84% |
| Thriving | 85-100% |
| Booming | >100% |
Morale
Morale is the happiness of the population in the region. Higher morale can increase production, loyalty, and increased resistance to invaders. Lower morale can cause unpatriotic sentiment to take root and may make the population more likely to resist your rule. Morale can be raised by the region lord or judge rendering merciful judgements when holding court. The region lord increasing food rations through the Food Distribution option will also increase morale. Aside from those two options, the region morale can also be increased by: a Hero telling a tale to the peasants, from civil work, and from a Courtier's performing bureaucratic work.
| Description | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Bleak | 0-19% |
| Depressed | 20-39% |
| Stoic | 40-59% |
| Content | 60-74% |
| Cheerful | 75-84% |
| Joyful | 85-100% |
| Indescribable | >100% |
Loyalty
The loyalty to the realm. Higher loyalty means more difficult takeovers (if you are invading) and increased acceptance of the realm's rule. If loyalty is low, then many options such as holding court will not work. Loyalty will increase as the region rebuilds infrastructure through police work, civil work, heroes telling tales and other work. Alternatively, brutal subjugation of the people with harsh courts and military rule makes sure that fear keeps the regions in line. There are seven descriptive levels of loyalty: Hateful, Disdainful, Indifferent, Friendly, Loyal, and Worshipful. Sometimes the well placed words of a diplomat regarding a particular realm can cause the population to become Enthralled for a time, virtually obsessive in their idealistic portrayal of the aforementioned realm.
| Description | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Hateful | 0-19% |
| Disdainful | 20-39% |
| Indifferent | 40-59% |
| Friendly | 60-74% |
| Loyal | 75-84% |
| Worshipful | 85-100% |
| Enthralled | >100% |
Sympathy
An estimate of how many people in that region like your realm and would not mind your rulership over them. A higher sympathy allows for friendlier takeovers to be performed faster with fewer men. On the other hand, low sympathy will force you to use harsher means to take control of the region and more men will be needed to secure the country-side for a long period of time. Almost nothing can be done to increase sympathy towards your realm besides waiting, but looting the region or allowing a TO to fail will surely cause it to fall. The descriptive levels of sympathy are the same as those for loyalty.
Control
There are five levels of control: core, main, province, occupied and rogue. These change according to the population's desire for independence. Rogue means the population has risen up and taken to governing themselves, and are under no realm's rule. Occupied is the lowest form of realm rule, and indicates strong desire to be independent. This continues all the way to main and core, where the population is fully integrated within the realm and harbour no desire for independence.
In most realms, only the inner regions will be core for long. Regions a little away from the capital are perfectly good if they are main, and while they can be brought up to core temporarily with enough work, there is no practical use for doing so.
When the level of control falls too low, the region may try to revolt. This may cost you your men. In some cases, you may even lose your unit completely.
Independence
A number of factors will effect how much the populace desires independence from the realm. The following is currently some guesses as to what affects independence, and it is known that some of it is incorrect:
- Realm Size - The larger the realm, the more the population will be discontent. Typically measured as the distance from the capital.
- Tax Rate - The higher the tax rate, the more the population will be discontent (this will vary between regions).
- Military Size - the larger the realm's military, the more discontent the population will be.
- Battles and looting by enemy realms in the region.
- Council or region lord positions unfilled.
Bureaucrats may gather information on how high levels of independence are. A temple visit by any troop leader will also often share some information on the popularity of independence groups. Finally, if your family is in the region, you can visit your Aunt and your Uncle will give you a rough estimate of how sympathetic the people are to the independence movement.
Region Economy
There are two kinds of products collected by regions: gold and food. They both depend on the region production value, and are affected by other variables.
Gold
The displayed gold value in the region information represents the daily generated wealth when the region is at 100% production. Note that by making investments one can raise production, and thus the generated wealth, over 100%.
This is not, however, necessarily the amount a realm extracts from a region. Such such value is the result obtained after applying two factors: the region tax and the estate efficiency percentages.
Food
The displayed food value in the region information represents the potential weekly generated food when the region is at 100% production. Note that this value is capped, and won't increase even if production is over 100%, but will diminish proportionately if under such level.
The amount of collected food depends on the season and the weather.
Weather & Seasons
The food production of all regions of the same weather area is affected by the weather changes. Aside from food harvest, the seasons also affect food rot, travel, and the rate which monsters and undead spawn. The specifics of these effects are not currently known. It is, however, known that during winter it takes longer to travel.
| Season | Food Production | Other Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Summer | 100% | Unknown |
| Autumn | 200% | Unknown |
| Winter | 25% | Reduced travel speed |
| Spring | 75% | Unknown |