Valkor

The Children of Light

The Children of Light is the collective name for those people in the Icesus valley who live in the Kingdom of Valkor, within the sphere of influence of the Church of Elements. It includes humans, elves and dwarves, though there are smaller numbers (less than 5%) of orcs and goblins.

There is a rigid social structure within the Church which comprises three classes: the Templars who are the ruling class, the Sectarians who preach the faith of the Church of Elements, and the common people who perform all the labour. In theory, the three groups are bound together by their faith in their elemental gods. In practice, the only unifying factor is that they all belong to the kingdom of Valkor. This treatise will look at each of the three groups in turn.

To understand the reach of the Children of Light, it is necessary to understand the geography and politics of the Kingdom of Valkor.

Geography (and Politics) of the Kingdom of Valkor

Provinces

Geographically, the Kingdom of Valkor, occupies the northwest area of the Icesus valley - the lands conquered by the Templars over the past 2 generations. But the Children of Light continue to live in the southern, more easily cultivated, lands and the Church and Templars hold the greatest power and influence close to the capital city of Vaerlon.

To the north, the new doctrines and customs give room to traditional Eskaran ways. The map shows that Valkor claims the northern provinces, but it is actually unclear where the lands of pagans begin. Certainly the Eskaran pagans living in the northern forests do not respect the division of land made by the Templars, and rebel groups from Eskara continue to fight even today. The other pagan groups of Gaestatis and Wilders move about as they please.

To the south, the Children of Light are threatened by a different foe - the Kingdom of Tyranus. Here the people worship their one-eyed Gods; some years they trade with Valkor, and other years they wage war.

Nearer to Vaerlon, a tense situation is developing. Recently, there have been problems with looting in the southeast provinces of Valkor (especially Clover and Heartlands). It is rumoured that many of these bandits are not ordinary bandits, but actually soldiers who have defected from the Templars and are now operating for the eastern czardom of Graemor. This gives rise to further rumours that the unified force of the Templars is disintegrating. In the two provinces, the Khatuns have hung several people alongside their families to stop the spreading of false rumors. But the stories whispered in streets continue to circulate.

The sectarians and common people of the Church of Elements do not put their faith in the rumors of the dissolution of the Templars. They are seen to be bloody conquerors, and terrible rulers, but the common folk believe the Templars guarantee social peace and protect their subjects from both the pagans and the eastern Czardom of Graemor. It is also very difficult for both the people and the members of the sects to imagine a world without Templars. So far, rumors of unrest have largely been ignored and life has continued according to the old model.

Social Order

Under the laws of the Templar Kingdom of Valkor, only a Templar can own land and that land is inherited by the eldest male direct descendant. He becomes Khan, and his son will become Khan on his death.

If there is no son, the land will pass to the eldest daughter (if she is of age), and to her husband upon her marriage. If the daughter is not of age, or if there are no children, the man’s wife will become Khatun until such time as a ‘proper’ heir is identified.

In the provinces, a landowner has the title of Khan or Khatun, and reigns as a complete monarch.

The laws of the Valkor kingdom require that Khans take care of all persons in their province, but they rarely do so. They give little consideration to reported crime, they are more likely to behead all persons involved, and levy increased taxes on the remaining family members. The punishments that the Khans (and Khatuns) distribute to the lower classes tend to be cruel, straightforward, and often collective.

So the common folk hesitate to bring matters to the khan's attention, they have learned instead to settle things with the village elders. Troublemakers and peace breakers are brought under control by "stocks and sticks" where the guilty party is confined to wooden stock and the villages offered the opportunity to take their revenge with their choice of thick and thin sticks.

Sectarians have slightly more leeway than the general population, but only so long as they do not interfere with secular politics. The Templars value the sects because they are useful for maintaining the peace of society. However, if sects do begin to intervene in earthly affairs, they will very quickly arrive at the end of their rope, which usually means that they will be hanging by the neck of it in some tall spruce.

Marriage and Family

The Church has a fixed and limited attitude toward sex: the purpose of sex is to produce children, and people are to choose one spouse with whom to spend their lives. The church has an equally negative attitude towards sexuality, but people do not live by this principle: the common people living in barns find their comfort, pleasure, and safety in each other's bodies. The Templars also seek their comforts, but they do so with silk bed sheets. As to the sectarians, there are many paths.

For the sake of society, all Children of Light are considered to be strictly monogamous. Where persons err (and the Templars are more likely to err than others) all children are born inside the marriage. Should it happen that a child is clearly not the child of the two parents, e.g. a half-elf child born to two humans, then the child will be considered to be an ‘outside child’ of the mother. Each father (birth, family) has the option to claim the child as his own; and they can determine whether or not to grant an inheritance (and land).

All property is inherited through the father. There are few inheritance disputes because the father ultimately determines the inheritance and the eldest son inherits everything. An eldest boy will easily find a willing spouse when he reaches a suitable age, while the younger ones will have to earn their place in the world.

At the marriage ceremony, the man's father brings his son to the prayer pole, where he hands his son to his future wife. Then the Church priest will give a short sermon, urging the spouses to love each other and to be faithful one another; he will advise the man to make wise decisions and the woman to obey her husband. Once the ceremony is completed, the woman moves to live in the man's house along side his parents and siblings.

Templars

"A message from the khatun of khatuns, the Great Queen of the Eastern and Western Countries. To Sarantyua, the witch Queen of the Eskara. Carefully consider what has happened to other nations that have defied us and surrender to us. Our horses are fast, our arrows sharp, our hearts as heavy as mountains and our soldiers are as sharp as the conifer needles of your forests. Your fortresses do not stop us. Your armies do not stop us. Prayers to your dark goddesses do not protect you from us. Only those who pray for our protection are safe. Haste with your answer before the flame of war flickers upon us. Defy us and you will suffer a terrible fate just like your people. We will tear down your stone rings, burn down your sacrificial grove, and expose the weakness of your goddesses before we kill your children and elders together." - Message from khatun Chinguan to the Eskaran witch queen Sarantyua.

The Templars originate from the eastern steppes and remnants of their past shape their culture today. All children are raised to be worthy riders and warriors. Where the older children (sons and daughters) are tied to the land and businesses, many of the younger offspring will join the Templar knights as a way to see the world.

Templars place complete control of emotions and unquestioning loyalty to the higher power as a measure of humanity. Their iron will and discipline, combined with superb organization skills (compared to those of many surrounding nations), have allowed them to conquer vast areas and unite the new provinces into what has become the invincible Valkor empire.

The Templars can be divided into nobles (land-owning tribes of khans and kahtuns), and the temple knights. Over the generations the noble families have developed court etiquette, customs and culture, which dictates their day-to-day behaviour, lifestyle, and dress. On the other hand, the temple knights are soldiers, they are the same ferocious and ruthless horsemen as originally rode in from the eastern steppes, and they have little tolerance for the finer elements of court life. Indeed, friction has begun to form between the two groups: the noble families regard the temple knights as foolish and uneducated, while the knights regard the noble families as weak and soft.