Hailing from the lands of Dracar, and eastern Selense, these people are the descendents of a once powerful human empire that began during the Fourth Age of Man. This empire existed for many years until it's destruction at the hands of the Orc armies during the Sixth Age of Man. These proud people come from a fairly rigid society with noble houses, a strong military and dress as their society dictates.
The Dracar Empire is a shadow of its once former glory, now holding sway, only over the lands that were its earliest borders. These days, the Empire consists of thousands of Noble Houses and their servants, a left over from the days when the Empire was wide and citizens were often granted titles for the most trite of acts.
The courts can often be a place of great intrigue as Nobles vie for positions of power and for the ear of the Emperor, going at great lengths and even making dark deals to raise their house, sometimes at the risk of losing it all. Although, it is important to note that not all houses play the game of court intrigue and rise through the ranks through their impeccable service to the Emperor and the Court.
General Appearance
They wear form fitting clothes that are crisp and sharp looking. The clothing is usually dark in color with such colors as grey, black, dark blue and dark reds fairly common. A typical outfit of a lord consists of pants that are uniform in shape from the waist to the ankles, commonly having piping down each leg showing the station or rank the noble has within the houses, or army. White or grey shirts that are firmly pressed by their servants, a form fitted vest that has an embroidered front, and a waist length coat that is crisp and of the same color as the pants, and vest. Usually the lord has some sort of decorative braid over the right shoulder further denoting rank, and they also wear shiny black leather riding boots.
In times of war the jacket gives way to a decorative set of plate mail armor that covers the chest, stomach, shoulders and back. On the field of battle a pair of leg plates, and a upon their head they wear a pickelhaube usually decorated with their unit, house and station markings. At all times a noble is to wear his or her blade at her side.
A Noble's Blade is also another show of status amongst the nobility. Each blade is constructed for a particular noble by the hands of a true master. The blade itself is never to leave the noble's side, for it is the one way to truly identify a noble and it is also a living record of what the Noble has done in service of the Empire. All records of all Noble's Blade are kept in the Royal Library in Dracar.
Commoners also dress in similar fashion to the nobles, although they almost never have the piping on their pants and never will they have embroidered vests. While a commoner may achieve a level of honor in service to the Empire to be awarded the right to wear the piping, only Nobles may wear the richly embroidered vests with their house seal upon it.
The woman are also subject to these same laws, and wear a similar type of jacket as the males, although the shoulders often have some additional padding added to them. They are never to be seen in a pair of pants, they must wear a skirt that matches the color of their jacket, and vest. A noblewoman's sword is also a bit smaller and thinner than a male’s is, although that makes them no less deadly in combat.
The people are fairly pale because of the lack of regular sunlight that is blocked by the near constant fog. They have black hair, with some members of the common people having dark brown hair. A common eye color is a very dark brown, and sometimes greys in the noble houses.
Recent History
Near the end of the struggle against the humanoid armies, the Empire's military greatly changed. It was no longer as reliant upon their legions of crossbowmen and grand siege machinery. Instead, the Armies of the Empire began to use simple rifles and powerful cannons that were much smaller and less complex then the siege machinery they once fielded. It has been rumored that the Empire acquired these implements of war through their dealings with the Mountain Dwarves and that it had something to do with a major shift in the standing of a once obscure noble house.
With the help of their new weaponry, the Empire was able hold back the humanoid horde, lead by their Orcish Masters, that had been advancing through their lands with little resistance. The tide turned when the humanoid horde attacked the capital of the Empire and the Dracar Warmasters faced the massive Dracocannons against the approaching horde and fired their first shot. Within weeks, the humanoid horde were pushed back from the lands of the Empire.
In the time since that great conflict, the Empire has been busily rebuilding and developing their knowledge of the natural world, engineering and science. These days, the Empire relies less upon magic than many other nations do, replacing many wizard colleges with broader shools of learning that the Noble houses believe provides them with a greater might than they once had.
Social Structure
With the number of noble houses and ranks of each noble house, life in the Empire of Dracar is often a rigid affair of almost forced courtesy. The reasoning is simple, with so many different Noble houses and members of Noble families, it is next to impossible to tell the title and station of another, unless one has an excellent memory and has spent years in the Imperial Records Library's section on the Noble Houses.
Favored Classes
Dearkasions typically favor the following classes: Fighter, Knight, Cleric, Rogue, Fighting Arcanist* and occasionally Bards. This is not to say that other classes are not represented in Dearkasion society, they are just overall less common, with wizards being a particular rarity.
Special Rules For Dearkasion Noble Characters:
Player's that wish to be a member of a Noble House are considered to be members of a minor and unremarkable noble house with no more "extra" funds available then other character classes. Through the player's actions, his/her house could be lifted up or take down in the rankings of Nobles houses. Player's are recommended to come up with a house name, a short list of other family members and a short history of how their, so far, unremarkable Noble House came to be.
Dearkasion Nobles have only 2 Prime Attributes Total, due to the time they spend learning about their Noble house and becoming skilled with their Noble's Blade.
Knowledge: Dearkasion Noble Houses, for testing knowledge of the houses, all Dearkasion Nobles are considered to have INT as a Prime, for this one limited scope topic.
Free Weapon Proficiency: Dearkasion Noble Sword, regardless of class a Dearkasion Noble is a specialist with their personal blade. Every 2 levels (Up to 6th Level), they receive a +1 BAB that is cumulative with their class BAB. If the character is a fighter, this specialization is a bonus specialization that does not interfere with a Fighter's weapon specialization. This reflects the nature of Dearkasion society in that Nobles must always be ready to defend themselves and that a Noble becomes “one” with his or her birthright.
Dearkasion Noble Sword – A thin bladed sword that is well suited to a style of fighting using thrusts and quick slashes. They are fine crafted blades, containing the house name and birthname of the wielder along with open areas to denote special accomplishments in the name of the Empire. Each blade is graphically represented and recorded in the Imperial Records. These weapons are of high enough quality to be magically enchanted, which is usually frowned upon in the Emperor’s Court. Damage: 1D6+1 (Keen Edged, Mastercrafted)
* Class is unique to Dearkasion people.